LOS ANGELES — We've all been there, Benito.
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 L.A. traffic. The Puerto Rican musician, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, opened the Grammy Awards this year 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 to the venue, Bad Bunny sighed and muttered, "Oh, f—."
"What happened?" Corden pressed.
"You know what happened," the "Un Verano Sin Ti" artist replied. "L.A. traffic!"
Recalling the stressful series of events, Bad Bunny said that during the eight-hour gap between rehearsals and showtime, he figured he would have enough time to relax, work out, take a shower and everything would be "all right." Big mistake: He arrived at the Grammys approximately eight minutes before he was scheduled to go onstage
"I was freaking ... I was sweating," the vocalist told Corden. "I was like two minutes from the Crypto Arena. I was very, very nervous — very anxious — 'cause yes, I was the opening act.
"I learned a big lesson," he added.
While driving through the streets of Los Angeles in Corden's signature "Carpool Karaoke" vehicle, the Grammy winner and the late-night host jammed to Bad Bunny's "Tití Me Preguntó"; Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez's "Dákiti"; Bad Bunny, Cardi B and J Balvin's "I Like It Like That"; Harry Styles' "As It Was"; and Ariana Grande and Zedd's "Break Free."
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 the Grande hit better than any other English-language track when he dramatically stopped himself to belt the chorus with passion.
Corden also inquired about the origins of the name Bad Bunny and how the recording artist's family and friends reacted when he decided to adopt the moniker.
"The first concept of the artist I wanted to be was this kind of artist that they don't reveal his identity," Bad Bunny said. "I wanted to use a bunny mask ... 'cause I never wanted to be so famous. But then I just went with the flow.
"A bad bunny — no matter how bad — is still looking cute. That's me. ... I'm a good guy. I'm cute."
Toward the end of their excursion, Bad Bunny made a brief pit stop to teach Corden some of his favorite wrestling moves. The "Me Porto Bonito" hit-maker 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 Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan on May 6.
"WWE said, 'Wow, this guy is a fan of us, so we should do something with him.' So they asked, 'You wanna be a referee? You wanna be on the side?'" Bad Bunny told Corden. "I said, 'I want to fight. ... I want to be in the ring. I want to fight for real.'"
This summer will be un verano sin Corden, who announced in April 2022 that he would be exiting "The Late Late Show" in the near future. His final episode is slated to air April 27 on CBS.
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