Bad Bunny has managed to take Spanish-language music to the absolute top of the world. Here are six defining moments in his career.
1. The breakthrough:
Bad Bunny was working packing grocery bags for customers in Puerto Rico when he uploaded his music to Soundcloud as an independent artist. The song “Soy peor” became a huge hit, and his quirky dark voice and Latin trap in the song “Diles” caught the attention of music producer DJ Luian, leading to a record deal.
2. The global success:
In 2018, he entered the American and global pop charts through two collaborations. First, he appeared on Cardi B's smash hit "I like it," which reached number one on the US singles chart, and second, via the Drake collaboration "Mia," where he had the Canadian star sing entirely in Spanish.
3. Historic Billboard record
During the pandemic year of 2020, Bad Bunny released three albums. The last of the three, “El ultimo tour del mundo,” became the first all-Spanish-language album ever to top the US album chart. In doing so, he shattered the old music industry myth that an album had to be in English to have a major commercial breakthrough in the US.
4. The mega-success with "Un verano sin ti"
The album “Un verano sin ti” became a cultural and commercial phenomenon when it was released in 2022. It was the most streamed album in the world that year, stayed at number one on the US charts for a total of 13 weeks and became the first Spanish-language album ever to be nominated for the top Grammy award for album of the year. The record also made Bad Bunny Spotify’s most streamed artist globally for several years afterwards.
5. Coachella
In 2023, Bad Bunny became the first Latin American solo artist ever to be the biggest headliner at the legendary Coachella music festival in California.
6. Super Bowl
“Nobody understands a word this guy is saying,” wrote US President Donald Trump on social media after Bad Bunny’s halftime show at the NFL Super Bowl in February. Trump didn’t appreciate that the show was almost entirely in Spanish – but that was also what made it historic: Never before has an artist who sings in Spanish been given the honor of being the halftime act at the Super Bowl.
Bad Bunny will play at Strawberry Arena outside Stockholm on July 10th and 11th.
