Grammy stars blast Ice as Bad Bunny makes history

Grammy winners including Billie Eilish and Olivia Dean spoke out against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers at a ceremony where Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny made history.

The musician, who will headline the Super Bowl this weekend, is the first artist to win album of the year for a record sung entirely in Spanish.

He was rewarded for his sixth album, Debi Tirar Mas Fotos, just days before he takes to the stage during the clash between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks.

He was among the celebrities to condemn the actions of Ice during their acceptance speeches.

British singer Dean took home the best new artist award at the ceremony at Los Angeles’s Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, while Eilish’s Wildflower won song of the year.

Accepting her award, US singer Eilish was joined on stage by her brother Finneas, with both wearing Ice Out pins, as she said: “I feel so honoured every time I get to be in this room, and as grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything but that no one is illegal on stolen land.

“It’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, and I feel really hopeful in this room, and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting, and our voices really do matter, and the people matter.”

After beating fellow British star Lola Young to best new artist, Dean used her speech to call for immigrants to be celebrated.

Becoming emotional after scooping the award, the Man I Need singer said: “I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant, I wouldn’t be here (if it were not for immigration).

“Yeah, I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated, so yeah, we’re nothing without each other. Thank you so much, I love you, thank you so much.”

Before winning album of the year, Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Martinez Ocasio, scooped best musica urbana album, and used his speech to call for Ice to leave US cities and to ask for love.

He said: “Before I say thanks to god, I’m going to say Ice out.

“We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans.

“I would say to the people, I know it’s tough to know not to hate on these days, and I was thinking, sometimes… the hate get more powerful with more hate, the only thing that is more powerful than hate is love.

“So please, we need to be different, if we fight, we have to do it with love, we don’t hate them.

“We love our people, we love our family, and that’s the way to do it, with love, don’t forget that please.

“Thank you, thank you God.”

Bad Bunny delivered much of his speech in Spanish before saying he wanted to dedicate the award to “all the people that had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams” in English.

Ice officers have been sent to US cities as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation initiative, most notably in Minnesota and Minneapolis, where about 2,000 federal agents have been deployed.

Officers have come under strong criticism over their aggressive approach. Most recently, Ice agents fatally shot two people on the streets of Minneapolis: Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on January 24.

Singers Joni Mitchell and Kehlani, and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon were also among artists wearing Ice Out and Be Good pins at the annual ceremony.

Vernon, 44, whose group Bon Iver is nominated for best alternative music album, said he wore a whistle as a tribute to the legal observers documenting the actions of federal agents in the streets.

“I think there’s a reason that music exists and it’s to heal and to bring people together,” he told The Associated Press.

““But the real work are those observers on the on the ground in Minneapolis. We just want to shout them out.”

Kehlani, 30, said “f*** Ice” in her acceptance speech as she won her first Grammy for best R&B performance for Folded, and called for people to speak out against them.

Elsewhere, rap star Kendrick Lamar won big at the ceremony; he was the most nominated artist at the ceremony with nine nods, winning five, collecting record of the year for his song Luther, featuring R&B singer SZA.

A humorous moment saw veteran singer Cher mistakenly call the rapper Luther Vandross, the late soul star who is actually sampled on the track, when handing out record of the year, having just won a lifetime achievement award herself.

Speaking after the record of the year win, SZA said: “I know that right now is a scary time, I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary and all is lost.

“There’s been world wars, there’s been plagues, and we have gone on, we can go on, we need each other, we need to trust each other, trust ourselves, trust your heart.

“We’re not governed by the government, we’re governed by God, and I thank you so much.”

The 38-year-old also took home awards for best rap album for GNX, best rap song for TV Off featuring Lefty Gunplay, best melodic rap performance for Luther, and best rap performance for Chains & Whips with Clipse, Pusha T, Malice and Pharrell Williams.

Pop superstar Lady Gaga, who was the second-most nominated artist with seven nods, took home best pop vocal album for her record Mayhem, having already won best dance pop recording and best remixed recording for Abracadabra and its Gesaffelstein remix.

Performances during the night included Tyler, The Creator, who crashed a Ferrari F40 on stage while singing Sugar On My Tongue; Justin Bieber, praised for his return to the Grammys after four years away; and tributes paid to Ozzy Osbourne, D’Angelo and Roberta Flack.