We’ve all been there, Benito.
The reggaeton superstar and relatable king Bad Bunny revealed Wednesday on an episode of “The Late Late Show With James Corden” that he almost missed his Grammys performance because he got stuck in Los Angeles traffic. The Puerto Rican musician, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, opened this year’s Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena with an electrifying medley of “El Apagón” and “Después de la Playa.”
When asked by Corden during a “Carpool Karaoke” segment about his late arrival at the venue, Bad Bunny sighed and muttered, “Oh f—.”
“What happened?” Corden pressed.
“You know what happened,” replied the interpreter of “A Summer Without You.” “Los Angeles traffic!”
Recalling the stressful series of events, Bad Bunny said that during the eight-hour gap between rehearsals and the show, he figured he’d have enough time to relax, work out, shower, and everything would be “okay.” Big mistake: He arrived at the Grammys roughly eight minutes ahead of schedule to hit the stage.
“I was freaking out… I was sweating,” the frontman told Corden. “I was like two minutes from the Crypto arena. He was very, very nervous, very anxious, because yeah, I was the opening act.
“I learned a great lesson,” he added.
While driving through the streets of Los Angeles in Corden’s signature “Carpool Karaoke” vehicle, the Grammy winner and late-night host played Bad Bunny’s “Tití Me Pregunto”; “Dákiti” by Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez; “I like it like this” by Bad Bunny, Cardi B and J Balvin; “As It Was” by Harry Styles; and “Break Free” by Ariana Grande and Zedd.
Of all the songs, “Break Free” seemed to elicit the most enthusiastic response from Bad Bunny, who was in the middle of telling Corden that he knew the lyrics to Grande’s hit better than any other English-language song when he stopped dramatically. to encircle the chorus with passion.
Corden also asked about the origins of the name Bad Bunny and how the artist’s family and friends reacted when he decided to adopt the moniker.
“The first concept of the artist that I wanted to be was this kind of artist who doesn’t reveal their identity,” said Bad Bunny. “He wanted to wear a bunny mask…because he never wanted to be that famous. But then I went with the flow.
“A bad bunny, no matter how bad it is, it still looks cute. That’s me. … I am a good boy. I am cute.”
Towards the end of his excursion, Bad Bunny made a brief pit stop to teach Corden some of his favorite wrestling moves. The “Me Porto Bonito” hitmaker and lifelong wrestling fan has made memorable appearances at a couple of WWE events in recent years and is set to host the organization’s Backlash event live from the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum of Puerto Rico in San Juan on May 6.
“WWE said, ‘Wow, this guy is a fan of ours, so we should do something with him.’ Then they asked me: ‘Do you want to be a referee? Do you want to sideline?’” Bad Bunny told Corden. “I said, ‘I want to fight. … I want to be in the ring. I really want to fight.’”
This summer will be a summer without cord, who announced in April 2022 that he would be leaving “The Late Late Show” in the near future. Its final episode is scheduled to air April 27 on CBS.