Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga Triumph at the Grammys as Artists Voice Anti-ICE Messages

Kendrick Lamar advanced at the Grammys awards by taking four gramophones in the early going at Sunday's ceremony in Los Angeles, followed by Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga, with two statuettes each.

The three music giants are battling it out for the most coveted award of the night: the Grammy for Album of the Year, which none of them has been able to conquer so far.

Lamar opened the televised ceremony by taking the first trophy of the ceremony with his "GNX," which emerged as the best rap album.

"I'm not good at talking about myself, but I express myself through music. It's an honor to be here," Lamar said upon receiving the statuette.

The 38-year-old musician, who last year dominated the ceremony with his viral "Not Like Us", arrived at Crypto.com leading the ceremony with nine nominations, mostly for "GNX" and his single "Luther," which features SZA.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning star, who arrived Sunday with 22 statuettes to his credit, captured the gramophones for best rap performance, best rap song and best melodic rap performance.

The 68th edition of the Recording Academy Awards was also a triumphant day for Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Bad Bunny, who made history by placing a work entirely in Spanish in the three most important categories of the evening: album, recording and song of the year.

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio triumphed in best global music performance thanks to "EoO", a single from his acclaimed "DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS", which also won best urban music album.

In his most outspoken pronouncement against the anti-immigration campaign being pushed by Donald Trump in the United States, the bad bunny used his entire thank-you speech to praise the Latino community.

"Fuera ICE", he blurted out as soon as he took the stage, referring to the acronym that identifies the U.S. immigration police. The audience gave him a standing ovation.

"We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans," said the artist who has globalized reggaeton.

A week away from performing at halftime of the American Football League finals, one of the most prestigious musical stages with an audience of millions of viewers, Bad Bunny was not scheduled to sing at the gala.

- Political Tinge -.

In Song of the Year, "Wildflower," the ballad composed by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell, surprisingly prevailed, leaving "Golden," from the hit Netflix animated movie "The K-pop Warriors," which took the recognition for best song written for visual media, in the way.

In tune with the mood of the night, usually free of political overtones but this time not indifferent to tensions over immigration raids being executed by the federal government, Eilish, 24, received the 10th Grammy of her career by calling for protest.

"I feel very hopeful in this room, and I feel like we need to keep fighting, speaking out and protesting, and our voices really matter," said the songwriter wearing a "ICE Out" pin, highly visible on the red carpet preceding the gala.

Meanwhile, Lady Gaga won the awards for best dance/pop recording for her "Abracadabra" and best vocal pop album with her "Mayhem", which marked the successful return to the scene of the chameleonic artist.

Unsurprisingly, Olivia Dean triumphed as best new artist, one of the most important categories of the night, and one that in the past helped catapult the careers of stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish, among others.

- Electrifying performances -.

Music's biggest party has offered a top-notch lineup, with most of its televised gala dedicated to performances.

Rosé and Bruno Mars opened with an energizing rock version of their viral "APT."

Sabrina Carpenter soon took the stage to sing her summery "Mainchild," while Justin Bieber offered an intimate version of "Yukon" wearing just shorts and tights.

Post Malone joined Chad Smith, Duff McKagan, Slash and Andrew Watt to pay an emotional tribute to the prince of darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away last year.

Lauryn Hill commanded the traditional In Memoriam segment with an ensemble that included John Legend and his partner in The Fugees, Wycleaf Jean, among other figures.

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With information from AFP