Bad Bunny leads in nominations for the Latin Grammys

Bad Bunny on stage during his residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aug. 9, 2025. (Amy Lombard/The New York Times)

By BEN SISARIO

Bad Bunny, Argentine duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, and producer and songwriter Edgar Barrera are the top nominees for the 26th annual Latin Grammy Awards, reflecting a diverse quadrant of the music industry that has exploded with the rise of streaming.

Bad Bunny leads the pack with 12 nods, which were announced Wednesday by the Latin Recording Academy. Among the superstar’s citations are album of the year for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” (“I Should Have Taken More Photos”), on which he embraces older Puerto Rican styles like plena and urbano in addition to continued experiments with reggaeton and trap. He also received nominations in both the record and song of the year categories for two of that album’s tracks: “Baile Inolvidable” and “DtMF.”

Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, who make a playful and subversive mix of hip-hop, Latin pop and raucous funk, have 10 nominations, including album of the year for “Papota,” and for two tracks that are also up for both record and song: “El Día del Amigo” and “#Tetas.” Stars in Latin America, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso had a breakout moment last fall with a viral video appearance on NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts.”

Barrera, a Mexican American who is one of the most in-demand figures behind the scenes of contemporary Latin pop, also has 10 nods, including as a writer and producer of Karol G’s hit “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido.”

The other top artist nominees are Natalia Lafourcade, a singer-songwriter from Mexico, with eight nominations, and Liniker, from Brazil, with six.

For album of the year, Bad Bunny and Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso will compete against Rauw Alejandro’s “Cosa Nuestra,” Lafourcade’s “Cancionera,” Alejandro Sanz’s “¿Y Ahora Qué?,” Carin León’s “Palabra de To’s (Seca)” and LPs by Gloria Estefan, Vicente García, Joaquina, Liniker and Elena Rose.

Bad Bunny and Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso will contend with three songs that are also up for both record and song: Lafourcade’s “Cancionera,” Sanz’s “Palmeras en el Jardín” and Karol G’s “Si Antes No Te Hubiera Conocido.” (Record of the year goes to the performer and producers of a single recording; song of the year recognizes songwriters.)

Others up for record of the year include Liniker (“Ao Teu Lado”), Zoe Gotusso (“Lara”) and Jorge Drexler & Conociendo Rusia (“Desastres Fabulosos”). The song of the year ballot adds Andrés Cepeda’s “Bogotá,” Mon Laferte’s “Otra Noche de Llorar” and Liniker’s “Veludo Marrom.”

The best new artist field includes Alleh, Annasofia, Yerai Cortés, Juliane Gamboa, Camila Guevara, Isadora, Alex Luna, Paloma Morphy, Sued Nunes and Ruzzi.

Driven by streaming and international touring, and by the celebrity wattage of figures like Bad Bunny, Karol G, Alejandro and Peso Pluma, Latin music has long been a booming sector for the global music industry. It is also the fastest-growing genre in the United States.

“The impact of Latin music continues to grow on a global level,” Manuel Abud, CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, which bestows the awards, said in a statement. “And all of the nominated artists encompass its diversity and richness while continuing to preserve the iconic sounds that make our music unique.”

This year’s ceremony will be held in Las Vegas on Nov. 13 and broadcast by TelevisaUnivision. Awards are voted on by music professionals who are part of the Latin Recording Academy. To be eligible, music must have been released from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025, and have at least 60% of its lyrical content in Spanish, Portuguese or “any native regional language,” according to the academy.

The 60 categories in this year’s ceremony include two new awards: best music for visual media and best roots song. For the latter, one of the competitors is Bad Bunny.