Bad Bunny is the artist of the year at the Apple Music Awards

NEW YORK — Last year the top Apple Music Awards went to three artists: Olivia Rodrigo, HER and The Weeknd. This year there is only one: Bad Bunny.

The streaming music giant announced the Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar on Wednesday as its artist of the year, a title he earned largely for his album “Un Verano Sin Ti,” which is the most-streamed album of 2022 and the album most popular Latino to date.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the unparalleled achievements of Bad Bunny, whose influence on every corner of culture cannot be ignored in 2022,” Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music and Beats, said in a statement.

Bad Bunny has achieved several milestones on Apple Music, including the record for the most popular Latin song for “Moscow Mule” for its number of streams on its first day worldwide. Bad Bunny managed to place 22 songs on the Daily Top 100 chart, breaking the record for the most simultaneous entries by a single Latin artist, and his songs have reached the top of the Daily Top 100 in 34 countries, more than any other artist.

“The Latin music movement has grown so much. I will never take all the credit or say ‘it’s because of me’. No, it’s for each one of us, a whole generation. Our energy and presence is always felt,” Bad Bunny told Apple Music.

The music service said the annual winners are chosen by a process that reflects Apple Music’s editorial perspective and what customers around the world listen to most.

[ Juanes hace historia en España ]

The Apple Music Awards, which celebrates its fourth year in 2022, continues to evolve and grow to encompass musical standards worldwide.

The award adds to a whole series of successes for Bad Bunny this year. It won a Grammy for best urban music album in April and beat out Drake, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X and Lizzo to win Artist of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards. He is currently the most nominated artist at the Latin Grammys, which will be awarded on November 17, with 10 mentions, including album of the year, recording of the year for his single “Ojitos Lindos” with the Colombians Bomba Estéreo. He has also been recognized by Spotify as the most listened to artist in 2020 and 2021.

Bad Bunny had the best-selling and first all-Spanish album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. This year he also became the only artist in history to stage two $100 million independent tours in less than 12 months with “The Last Tour of the World” and “World’s Hottest Tour”.

At last year’s Apple Music Awards, Rodrigo was named breakout artist of the year, her album “Sour” was named album of the year, and her “drivers license” was named song of the year. HER was named Songwriter of the Year and The Weeknd was named Global Artist of the Year.