Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee Tease 'Historic' GRAMMYs Performance of 'Despacito' (Exclusive)
Sunday's performance of "Despacito" at the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards is going to be a "historic" one.
ET caught up with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee as they rehearsed at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday, where they opened up about what fans can expect from their big performance -- and admitted that they're a little nervous to hit the stage.
"I'm a little nervous, I'm not gonna lie," Fonsi revealed. "This is really big. Not only for me, but for Latin music in general, to be able to sing a song in Spanish for the big show. I'm really proud to be here."
"Being from Puerto Rico, growing up here in the United States, I've always been so proud of my roots and my language, and all these artists who are performing, they've all influenced me," he explained. "So to be able to celebrate a little bit of who I am and where I'm from, and to share with the world, and break that language barrier -- especially after everything that [Puerto Rico has] been going through -- this is already just good vibes for everybody."
"I hope that everybody at home just gets up out of their chair, out of their couch and dances with us, because that's what it's all about. It's a big Latino party, baby!" Fonsi added.
While Fonsi said that vocalist and Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera, who starred in the "Despacito" music video, will be making an appearance during the performance, Justin Bieber will not be joining them on stage.
"No, I wish. Obviously, I would love to perform it with him," he shared. "I've only performed it with him once, and it was actually an impromptu performance at his concert, so unfortunately he's not going to be here, but we hope that we can make him proud."
"Of course we extended the invitation; he's part of the nomination and he helped the song grow even more, and I'm so proud of the job that he did. I'm so proud that he decided to sing most of the song in Spanish... so we're very grateful," Fonsi expressed. "He's a good friend, he's a good guy, so hopefully we'll be able to celebrate together."
Although Daddy Yankee raved about the success "Despacito" has had "from Europe, South America, here in the States [and] Australia," Sunday's performance will pay special tribute to Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria.
"It means a lot [to perform], for us and for Puerto Rico. Right now Puerto Rico is going through a lot of things. I know the whole island will be watching the show, and we're glad to make a huge impact on the island," he said.
"Puerto Rico is still recovering, still got a long road to go, [but] that's the beautiful thing about music -- music heals," Fonsi declared. "To at least take a little bit of that darkness away, and to raise that flag and to make them feel proud, that's the reason I'm here today."
The GRAMMY Awards will air live from Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on CBS.
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