Daddy Yankee Announces He's Retiring to Devote His Life to Christianity: 'Jesus Lives for Me'

The rapper first announced his retirement in March

Daddy Yankee says he'll devote his life to Christianity following his retirement from music.

The rapper and reggaeton star, 46, announced his plans to a stadium full of fans at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan during the final show of his La Meta tour on his native island on Sunday.

"My people, this is the most important day of my life. I want to share it ... because living a life of success is not the same as living a life of purpose," he said in Spanish, during a speech he later posted video of to Instagram.

The “Gasolina” singer explained that despite his success in the music industry, he felt a void in his life that he only filled when he began focusing more on his faith.

"This is why tonight I acknowledge that Jesus lives for me — and I will live for him," he said, adding "all of the tools that I have within my power – like music, social media, my platform, the mic, everything that God gave me is now for him."

Related: Who Is Daddy Yankee's Wife? All About Mireddys González

Daddy Yankee was visibly emotional during the speech in which he referenced a new beginning and referred to himself by his birth name — Ramón Ayala Rodríguez.

“I am human and everyone that follows me should follow Jesus Christ,” he concluded in the video, which ended with a fireworks display of a cross and the words “Christ loves you” in Spanish. 

Daddy Yankee first announced his retirement in 2022 in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that also mentioned his farewell album and tour.

"Today, I'm announcing my retirement from music by giving you my best production and my best concert tour," the statement said. "I will say goodbye celebrating these 32 years of experience with this new collector's item, the album Legendaddy. I'm going to give you all the styles that have defined me, in one single album." The statement didn’t have any mention of religion.

The singer’s album Legendaddy was released in March and received 175 million streams just three days into its release, according to Variety.

In addition to the song “Gasolina,” Daddy Yankee also had a crossover hit with 2017's "Despacito," his No. 1 song with Luis Fonsi and Justin Bieber.

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