As is the tradition every year, the Recording Academy selected their nominations of the best of the best in music across 84 categories. For this site’s purposes, we will focus only on the Hispanic nominees which have been nominated in 20 categories this year, many more than we have seen in previous years. With Bruno Mars (Puerto Rican heritage) nominated for six awards and Despacito‘s bilingual version nominated for three, including Justin Bieber, we are seeing one of the great years for Latinos in music.
Latino nominees are indicated in bold, if not in bold, it means the whole category is Hispanic.
What Happened That Night
Bruno Mars swept the ceremony, winning six Grammys including Album of the Year (24K Magic), Record of the Year (“24K Magic”), and Song of the Year (“That’s What I Like”). “Despacito” lost Record of the Year and Song of the Year to Mars. The loss became one of the most debated Grammy decisions in recent memory, particularly among Spanish-language music fans.
Cardi B did not win for “Bodak Yellow” that year, but went on to win Best Rap Album the following year for Invasion of Privacy, making her the first solo female rapper to win the category.
Update March 2026
“Despacito” did not win that night, but it was the first predominantly Spanish-language song nominated for Record of the Year since 1998. Seven years later, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti was nominated for Album of the Year, and Peso Pluma earned a Best New Artist nomination. The door Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee forced open at the 60th Grammys remains open for the next generation of Latino stars.
Hispanic Nominees: Key Categories
Album of the Year Bruno Mars – 24K Magic
Record of the Year Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee f/ Justin Bieber – “Despacito” Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
Song of the Year Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee f/ Justin Bieber – “Despacito” Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
Best Latin Pop Album
Lo Único Constante – Alex Cuba
Mis Planes Son Amarte – Juanes
Amar Y Vivir – La Santa Cecilia
Musas – Natalia Lafourcade
El Dorado – Shakira
Best Rap Performance Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow”
Best Song Written For Visual Media How Far I’ll Go – Lin-Manuel Miranda (Moana)
