The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the biggest stages anywhere on Earth, with around 100 million viewers glued to their screen as glitz, glamour, culture and the political moment collide midway through a football game. This year, as the Seattle Seahawks’ defence took a break from grinding the New England Patriots’ offence to a fine paste, it was Bad Bunny’s time to shine. Although, in truth, he’s been doing that almost non-stop for a while now. Here, we take a look at what made his performance so special.
The Spectacle
If you are following in the footsteps of Prince, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar, whose 2025 Super Bowl set was a marvel of artistic daring and showbiz glitz, you have to bring it from a performance perspective. And, whether he’s lighting up dozens of shows during a residency at San Juan’s Coliseo de Puerto Rico or delivering Canadian Destroyers during pro-wrestling matches, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio always brings it. At Levi’s Stadium, he strolled through sugar cane fields, his eyes holding the gaze of viewers at home, checked in with some old boys playing dominoes, and sent the energy through the roof (literally) at a house party. Beyond his obvious charisma, though, there was a sense of ease — as though he was navigating familiar spaces. That’s probably because he was.
The Message
Only a week or so along the line from picking up the Album of the Year Grammy for ‘Debí Tirar Mas Fotos’ — the first Spanish language LP to win the prize, with the gong later playing a starring role in his Super Bowl set — this was an eye-popping celebration of Puerto Rican identity, with Bad Bunny silencing outside noise over his booking while pointedly refusing to bend under MAGA scrutiny for the fact his performance would be delivered in his own tongue. Calling back to his acceptance speech at the Grammys, which called out ICE in unvarnished terms amid events in Minneapolis, an enormous screen at Levi’s Stadium read: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Beyond whoever’s name is up in lights on the marquee, there are always a few extra big names in the mix come Super Bowl season, and this one proved to be no different. Bad Bunny turned to a deep bench to help amp up the pizzazz, with Lady Gaga stopping by to sing Die With A Smile and Puerto Rican pop trailblazer Ricky Martin absolutely crushing Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii. Beyond that, though, the show featured appearances from stars including Pedro Pascal, Cardi B and Jessica Alba, who all popped up to add to the convivial air of a street party as Benito ran through hits including Tití Me Preguntó, Monaco and Baile Inolvidable. Some people even got married out in the middle.
The Reaction
“The show at large is a dizzying reminder of the many pantheons of Puerto Rican legends – in reggaetón, in salsa, in jíbaro music – that Benito is succeeding and never letting history forget,” wrote Stefanie Fernández in The Guardian. Maria Sherman, covering the show for the Associated Press, noted how far Benito has come in a relatively short period of time: “Consider Bad Bunny’s 2026 halftime performance the cherry on top of a huge moment for the 31-year-old global superstar, who just 10 years ago was working at an Econo supermarket in Puerto Rico.”
Other observers pointed to the way the show underlined themes that are hard-coded into Bad Bunny’s music. “The power of Bad Bunny has always been his ability to pull listeners into his world, not the other way around,” said Dimas Sanfiorenzo and Antonio Johri in Complex’s review. “While Bad Bunny’s performance was an exuberant and deeply coded celebration of Latin American culture, it was also a statement that culture is meant to be shared,” ran Tomás Mier and Jem Aswad’s take in Variety.
A fizzing section of the 13 minute performance centred on La Casita, a structure that first popped up during Bad Bunny’s Puerto Rican residency that’s since become an integral part of his live show as he channels the youth-centric, music-driven tradition of party de marquesina. This year, he’s set to take the concept on the road, including two summer shows at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A few extra tickets have just been released, so if you want to be a part of the moment, now’s the time. You can expect all of this and more, so don’t wait around.
Bad Bunny Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sat June 27 2026 - LONDON Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Sun June 28 2026 - LONDON Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Fri May 22 2026 - BARCELONA Connecticut - Estadi Olimpico Lluis Companys (USA)
Sat May 23 2026 - BARCELONA Connecticut - Estadi Olimpico Lluis Companys (USA)
Sat May 30 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Sun May 31 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Tue June 02 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Wed June 03 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Sat June 06 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Sun June 07 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Wed June 10 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Thu June 11 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Sun June 14 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Mon June 15 2026 - MADRID Maryland - Estadio Metropolitano (USA)
Fri July 10 2026 - SOLNA Alberta - Strawberry Arena (Canada)
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