Dangerous Bunny was acknowledged Thursday (Oct. 23) because the Prime Latin Artist of the twenty first Century on the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, in one of many ceremony’s most emotional moments.
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Rita Moreno, the nonagenarian Puerto Rican Hollywood legend, shocked Dangerous Bunny on stage by presenting him with the trophy. “As we speak I see an artist who brings to all the world that very same energy, that very same ardour that helped me by no means quit,” Moreno remarked, as Dangerous Bunny regarded on from the viewers. “It strikes me from the underside of my coronary heart, Benito, to current you with the Billboard Latin Artist of the twenty first Century Award, Dangerous Bunny!”
The distinguished honor relies on his unparalleled achievements on Billboard’s Prime Latin Albums and Sizzling Latin Songs charts all through the primary 25 years of the century. As he went as much as settle for his award, the 2 danced briefly collectively to the rhythm of “Baile Inolvidable,” making a magical second.
“I respect you a large number, I like you a large number, wow,” Dangerous Bunny advised Moreno. “Following your phrases, each time I hear different artists specific themselves that manner about me, it offers me the boldness that being myself and doing the issues I do from the guts will all the time be an important choice, as a result of that’s what I’ve executed since day one, discovering who I’m and what I symbolize.”
“I settle for this award with delight as a result of I understand how onerous I’ve labored, not solely myself, however everybody on my staff,” he mentioned. “I’m conscious that this award may have been for any of the artists right here tonight who’ve additionally contributed to Latin music, who’ve impressed me, who’re why I’m right here, and people who are dreaming of being right here. I’ll all the time determine with these artists as a result of I think about myself a younger man who continues to dream, with many objectives and issues to do.”
He added: “What I’m saying now, I’m saying from the guts. I didn’t have any practiced phrases. I nonetheless don’t perceive, amongst so many artists, why me? However I’m grateful. That is yours as a result of you’ve me right here. I don’t know, God wished me to obtain it as a result of it doesn’t feed my ego. I obtain it with out conceitedness, very humbly, and I’ll stay the identical.”
The thrill had begun moments earlier, when, after the presentation video was proven, Los Pleneros de la Cresta appeared singing their hit collaboration “Café con Ron” within the halls of the James L. Knight Middle in Miami — from the place the present was airing stay by way of Telemundo.
With historic consistency, the multi-platinum Puerto Rican celebrity has shattered data in Latin music on the Billboard charts and past. His final 4 albums — Debí Tirar Más Fotos (2025), Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana (2023), Un Verano Sin Ti (2022), and El Último Tour del Mundo (2020) — have all earned unprecedented No. 1s on the all-genre Billboard 200. Past the charts, Dangerous Bunny’s latest live performance sequence on the Coliseo de Puerto Rico marked a milestone by breaking data for its magnitude and financial affect.
He has change into a cultural icon, breaking obstacles in trend, movie, and music — from co-chairing the Met Gala to collaborating with soccer megastar Lionel Messi on a groundbreaking Adidas partnership — in addition to starring in movie initiatives alongside acclaimed administrators and actors.
Dangerous Bunny graces the duvet of Billboard‘s October Concern 14. He will even be the primary Latin-American male solo artist to headline the Tremendous Bowl Halftime Present in February 2026.
