The Puerto Rican superstar’s star-studded, moving performance marked another milestone in his banner year.

Super Bowl 2026 halftime show review: Bad Bunny takes a victory lap — and reminds us what America really is

The Puerto Rican superstar's star-studded, moving performance marked another milestone in his banner year.

By Jason Lamphier

Jason Lamphier is a senior editor at who covers news and music. Before joining EW, he was an editor at The New York Observer, Out, and Interview.

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February 9, 2026 1:07 p.m. ET

Bad Bunny performs at the Super Bowl LX halftime show at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8, 2026. Credit:

Neilson Barnard/Getty

Last week, at Apple Music's press conference for its 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny reacted to critics concerned about the Puerto Rican superstar performing songs from his mostly Spanish-language catalog.

"They don't even have to learn Spanish," the 31-year-old musician, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, joked of the audience who'd be tuning in to the monumental event on Feb. 8. "Better they learn to dance. There is no better dance than the one that comes from the heart."

He kept the details light but assured viewers he'd bring "a huge party" and "a lot of my culture" to the proceedings.

The singer's 13-minute set on Sunday night delivered on that promise. The dancing was kinetic and unrelenting, the show studded with myriad Easter eggs reflecting his heritage, the spectacle one of the most bracing and heartfelt the NFL has hosted in recent history. Like Kendrick Lamar, last year's halftime show headliner, Bad Bunny came into his much-anticipated performance already a winner, having scooped up a handful of trophies at the 2026 Grammys, including one for Album of the Year, marking the first time an all-Spanish record had earned the coveted award. His Super Bowl set list featured several tracks from that lauded LP, *Debí Tirar Más Fotos, *a smart choice given their vitality and infectiousness.

The musician emerged wearing an all-cream monochromatic ensemble, the top a clever spin on a jersey. Printed on the back of it was his real last name, Ocasio, with 64 on its chest — perhaps a tribute to his uncle, a former football player whose own jersey number was 64, or a reference to the widely disputed original death toll for Hurricane Maria, which the Puerto Rican government later reported to be 1,427. The look, which he paired with a collared shirt, pants, sneakers, and gloves, was designed by the Spanish retailer Zara.

Bad Bunny performs at the Super Bowl LX halftime show.

Chris Graythen/Getty

Innumerable nods to Latin culture and history followed. The artist kicked off the performance with "Tití Me Preguntó," off his 2022 album, *Un Verano Sin Ti*, prancing through a sugar cane field filled with farmers in pavas (traditional Puerto Rican straw hats) and passing old men playing dominoes and a stand selling piraguas (shave iced). Then came the dancing.

As the artist segued into his track "Yo Perreo Sola," he ascended to the top of "La Casita," a traditional pink-and-yellow house that served as a key backdrop for his 31-night sold-out Puerto Rican residency, *No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí, *last year. Below him, a dynamic synchronized routine sizzled in front of the house as more dancers — including celebrities of Latin descent like Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, Karol G, Young Miko, and Jessica Alba — reveled on its porch.

He then plummeted through the roof into the house's living room, exited past the partiers to a sample of Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina," then mounted a white pickup truck to perform his Grammy-winning *Debí Tirar Más Fotos *single, "EoO."

Everyone performing at the 2026 Super Bowl: Bad Bunny, Green Day, Brandi Carlile, and more

Donald Trump blasts Bad Bunny's Super Bowl 2026 halftime show: 'An affront to the Greatness of America'

As electric as the show's first act was, the real exhilaration arrived after Bad Bunny sang a string-laced snippet of his song "Monaco" and announced in a tight shot directly into the camera one of its core themes: *"Si hoy estoy aquí en el Super Bowl 60, es porque nunca, nunca dejé de creer en mí y tú también deberías de creer en ti, vales más de lo que piensas.”* (Translation: "If I'm here today at Super Bowl 60, it's because I never, ever stopped believing in myself, and you should also believe in yourself. You're worth more than you think.")

The camera then panned to a white-clad wedding ceremony, with the officiant pronouncing an actual couple husband and wife. They kissed and the cluster dispersed to reveal surprise guest Lady Gaga, who belted out a salsa-fied take on her hit Bruno Mars collab, "Die With a Smile," backed by a live band and wearing a Flor de Maga brooch, Puerto Rico's national flower.

After she wrapped and joined Bad Bunny, the band launched into *Debí Tirar Más Fotos *highlight "Baile Inolvidable," the real-life newlyweds cut the cake, and attendees of all generations circled each other in a brassy, boisterous salsa number. As the camera threaded its way through the twirling dancers, it left an impression of being plunked directly into the festivities, as if we were lucky guests ourselves.

The real wedding at Bad Bunny's 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.

JOSH EDELSON / AFP via Getty

After falling backward off a ledge, Bad Bunny, now decked out in an elegant white suit, crowd-surfed into another *Debí Tirar Más Fotos *standout, "Nuevayol," a street party erupting around him before he approached a tiny bar and downed a shot he accepted from María Antonia Cay (a.k.a Toñita), the owner of Brooklyn's Caribbean Social Club, where the singer famously popped up in 2025 a week after releasing the album.

The next guest star was Ricky Martin, one of the first Latin crossover artists to break through in the U.S. Seated in a plastic chair by a plantain tree — a recreation of the cover image for *Debí Tirar Más Fotos* — he lent powerful vocals to the album's track "Lo Que Le Páso a Hawaii," a call for Puerto Rico's cultural independence in response to neocolonization. Workers in pavas, and then Bad Bunny himself, scaled power poles, sparks exploding around them, as the singer transitioned to "El Apagón" ("The Blackout"), a reference to the island's widespread power outages following Hurricane Maria, a subject he addressed in a short 2022 documentary.

Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga perform at his 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty

In the show's riveting coda, Bad Bunny broke into "Cafe con Ron" and paraded down the field carrying a football, a phalanx of bouncing dancers and percussionists trailing him and waving various colorful flags and tambourines. He shouted out a phrase heard thousands of times at Super Bowls and other big games: "God bless America!" Then he clarified his statement in Spanish, listing off several Latin American countries — Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba — followed by the United States and Canada, a heavy cadence pulsing beneath him, and fireworks blazing into the sky.

A jumbotron behind him read "The only thing more powerful than hate is love." The message was clear and pointed: "America" is North America and South America, not just the U.S. of its colloquial use. He punctuated his rallying cry for unity and community by spiking the football, the words "Together, We Are America" emblazoned on it, and declaring in Spanish, "My homeland, Puerto Rico, we are still here."

The performance concluded with *Debí Tirar Más Fotos*’ moving title track, "DtMF" ("I Should Have Taken More Photos"), a song about preserving personal memories and cultural customs before they slip away, the musician jumping and embracing the performers surrounding him.

Ricky Martin performs as a special guest at Bad Bunny's 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.

Neilson Barnard/Getty

A decade ago, Bad Bunny was bagging groceries at an Econo supermarket in Puerto Rico. Now he is the most-streamed artist in the world. Last week, he became the first Latino artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year. He is now the first male Latino star to headline the Super Bowl, turning in an exuberant performance that was almost entirely in Spanish at an event that likely attracted more than 125 million viewers across all platforms, making it one of the most-watched live broadcasts globally. He is — to use a phrase that has sadly left many of us jaded and cynical, especially as ICE agents wreak havoc across the U.S. and politicians spew racist rhetoric — the American dream. The *real *American dream.

Bad Bunny gives one of his Grammys to a young boy during his 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.

In a sea of prismatic high points during Sunday's show, a quieter moment stands out. As a Latino family of three watched his Grammys acceptance speech on a tiny vintage TV set, Bad Bunny approached them and gave one of his trophies from that night to a young boy. The singer then reiterated his message from the beginning of the show and the night he won his awards, a message of hope and strength: "Always believe in yourself." The light in the boy's eyes shined brighter than any of those fireworks.

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