If you browse the list of concerts in Bad Bunny’s current ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ world tour, you’ll notice a striking omission from the countries included.
Having kicked off in Puerto Rico, the tour will call in at Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil before heading to Australia, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Sweden, Poland, Italy and Belgium.
Nothing in the mainland US? Presumably those dates have yet to be announced, right?. But that presumption is wrong.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate—I’ve performed there many times. All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the US,” Bad Bunny told i-D in an interview.
“But specifically, for a residency here in Puerto Rico, when we are an unincorporated territory of the US… People from the US could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world.”
“But there was the issue of, like, fucking ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he added.
That’s a reference to the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency, whose raids this year have sparked protests over due-process and human-rights violations, as well as claims of racial profiling in disproportionately targeting Latino, Asian and African immigrants.
Essentially, Bad Bunny isn’t playing concerts in the mainland US because he’s worried those gigs will be targeted by ICE for new raids to detain and deport attending fans.
He’s not alone. Several festivals and celebrations in the US have been cancelled or postponed this summer – Kansas City’s Colombian Independence Day festival, Philadelphia’s Carnaval de Puebla, LA’s Festival Chapín and Chicago’s Cinco de Mayo Parade included – for the same reason.
All this, when Latin music has been having sustained success in the US. In April, labels body the RIAA revealed that revenues for Latin music reached an all-time high of $1.42bn in the US last year, having grown their share of the overall market from 5% in 2019 to 8.1% in 2024.
Now the breakout, stadium-filling tour from one of the pivotal figures in that trend is skipping the US – the world’s largest live-music market – out of fear for his fans’ welfare. It’s a sobering moment.
