Daddy Yankee is retiring from performing and will be dedicating his life to his religious faith, the reggaeton artist said on stage during the last date of his farewell tour, “La Meta (The Goal).”
In a video of the Dec. 4 event, which was also live-streamed, Yankee said in a speech that he was embarking on “a new beginning” after finding fulfillment in Jesus. Yankee also reposted this speech on his Instagram and reiterated his message in the caption.
“Tonight, I recognize, and I am not ashamed to tell the whole world that Jesus lives in me and that I will live for him,” he told the crowd in his homeland of Puerto Rico. “For many years I’ve tried filling a hole in my life that no one could fill. I tried finding a purpose, on many occasions, it seemed as if I was happy but something was missing for me to feel complete.”
He continued, stating that even though he had traveled the world with his music, he still felt empty. “I took note of something the Bible says,” Yankee continued in Spanish before reciting: “‘What good will it be for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?'”
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The singer, born Ramón Ayala, has long been advertising this tour — which started as the “La Última Vuelta World Tour” (“The Last Lap Tour”) last summer — as his final run of dates ahead of retirement. The tour was wildly successful and earned a total gross of over $125 million, according to Billboard’s Year-End Boxscore charts.
After popularizing reggaeton in 2004 with timeless hits like “Gasolina” and “Lo Que Pasó, Pasó,” Yankee said plans to use “the tools that I have in my possession such as music, social networks, platforms, a microphone — everything that Jesus gave me — for his kingdom.”
See Yankee’s speech and post below.
