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2022 MTV VMAs Show© GettyImages

Bad Bunny makes history after winning the Artist of the Year category at the MTV Video Music Awards

He is the first non-English-language performer to win the prize


Shirley Gomez
Senior Writer
AUGUST 29, 2022 10:03 AM EDT

Bad Bunny had an incredible weekend! After performing in a soldout concert in New York’s Yankee Stadium on Saturday, he performed again on Sunday for a special appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards, where he was named Artist of the Year.

During the awards, Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, made history after becoming the first non-English-language performer to win the prize. The global sensation was nominated alongside other heavy hitters, including Drake, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X, and Lizzo.

2022 MTV VMAs – Show© GettyImages

Right after his big winning, the 28-year-old rapper brought the house down with his hit song “Tití Me Preguntó.” During the performance, he followed Madonna, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera’s footsteps and shared a kiss with his female and male backup dancer.

2022 MTV VMAs – Show© GettyImages
Bad Bunny kisses a dancer at Yankee Stadium for the 2022 MTV VMAs broadcast on August 28, 2022 in New York City.

Bad Bunny is a significant LGBTQ+ ally, and since his beginning, he has been challenging society’s imposed norms and toxic masculinity in the Hispanic and Latino community.

In 2020, he shared with Playboy how supportive he is of people falling in love with others regardless of gender or race. “I think that sex is a giant world, and everyone is free to see it as they want and do it with whoever they want; however they want, with infinite possibilities,” he said. “In the end, we are human beings. Everybody feels everybody falls in love with whoever they’re meant to.”

Bad Bunny also made headlines after rocking neon acrylic nails and dressing as a woman for his “Yo Perreo Sola” music video. Although other artists in the Hispanic community painted their nails, the singer popularized it and is considered somewhat normal.

Earlier this year, he also told GQ that although he is considered a fashion icon; he is a rulebreaker. “Everybody has to feel comfortable with what they are and how they feel. Like, what defines a man, what defines being masculine, what defines being feminine? I really can’t give clothes gender,” he said, adding, “To me, a dress is a dress. If I wear a dress, would it stop being a woman’s dress? Or vice versa? Like, no. It’s a dress, and that’s it. It’s not a man’s; it’s not a woman’s. It’s a dress.”