Sebastin Yatra Reflects on Latin Grammys Win After Years of Snubs, Talks John Legend Col

It’s hard to believe, but Sebastián Yatra’s Latin Grammy win on Thursday (Nov. 18) was his first ever at the awards show. At the Variety Studio presented by DIRECTV at Latin Grammys, Yatra reflected on the honor, which followed his performance with John Legend — a bilingual version of his smash hit “Tacones Rojos.” It won best pop song at the 23rd annual show, and Yatra also took home best pop vocal album for his multi-platinum album, “Dharma.”

“It gets tougher and tougher to win a Grammy,” Yatra said. “Every year there’s so many new artists, there’s so many new songs — so for us to have won [best pop song] of the year and for ‘Dharma’ be [best pop vocal album] of the year, is just something that I’ll forever be thankful for.”

The Colombian singer, songwriter and actor, had been nominated multiple times in the past, with his first nomination being in 2017 for best new artist. “Taking two [Latin] Grammys home is insane I’ve been nominated like 10 times before and I had never won,” he said.

“Really the most fantastic things that have happened to me in life have happened because I wasn’t expecting them and that’s just a rule of thumb after the pandemic and with everything I’ve gone through. To not expect things, just let them be the way they are — and today we came into the awards just ready to have a good time, confident and having fun.”

He also expressed gratitude for Legend, who lovingly shouted out Yatra’s home country during their performance. On stage, Legend translated Yatra’s global pop hit into English while Yatra paralleled with the song’s original Spanish lyrics.

“It’s something that I’m going to have in my heart,” said Yatra, “We’ve become good friends he’s just a cool guy to be around we just did ‘Nervous,’ his last single, we did a spanglish version of it…it’s beautiful, he’s one of my favorite artists.” The pop singer also shouted out fellow Medellín native Karol G, who also performed a medley of her biggest hits that night.

“Provenza was one of my favorite songs, they pushed the envelope and went somewhere totally different,” he said.

The singer already has his sights set on his next album, expressing his excitement to get back in the studio with the “liberty to do what I want. … I’m gonna write this next album at the beach, I’m gonna write it in the plane, I’m gonna write it wherever!”

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