Latin pop star Bad Bunny to headline 2026 Super Bowl half-time show in February
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Puerto Rican singer-rapper Bad Bunny attending the premiere of the movie Caught Stealing in New York on Aug 26.
PHOTO: AFP
Emmanuel Morgan
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NEW YORK – Puerto Rican rapper-singer Bad Bunny, who has won three Grammys while bringing Spanish-language music to the top of the charts, will headline the Super Bowl half-time show in February 2026, the National Football League (NFL) announced on Sept 28.
The Super Bowl is consistently the most-watched television programme of the year, with more than 130 million people viewing last season’s half-time show featuring American rapper Kendrick Lamar.
The next Super Bowl will take place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, near San Francisco, on Feb 8.
“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny, who will host the season opener of US sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live on Oct 4, said in a statement.
“It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards, so I could come in and score a touchdown… This is for my people, my culture and our history.”
This will be the seventh Super Bowl half-time show produced by Roc Nation, the US entertainment and sports company founded by billionaire American rapper Jay-Z.
The 31-year-old Latin superstar, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, was born in Puerto Rico and rose to fame through hits such as MIA (2018), I Like It (2018), Me Porto Bonito (2022) and Dakiti (2020).
He has been nominated for 10 Grammys, winning in the best musica urbana album category for Un Verano Sin Ti (2022) and El Ultimo Tour del Mundo (2020), and in the best Latin pop or urban album category for YHLQMDLG (2020). He has also won 12 Latin Grammys.
Bad Bunny has been vocal about social issues affecting Puerto Rico.
In an interview in September with i-D magazine, he said he did not incorporate the mainland United States into his latest tour because he was fearful his fans would be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On the night of Sept 28, shortly before the Super Bowl announcement, Bad Bunny posted on social media that “after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the US”.
In a social media post in 2024, Bad Bunny published an eight-minute video in Spanish in which he described his pride in his home country.
He captioned the post “garbage”, an allusion to when American comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” during a campaign rally for US President Donald Trump.
Weeks later, Bad Bunny endorsed Ms Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
“Every time that I express myself about something, I do it because I feel it,” Bad Bunny said in an interview with The New York Times published in January.
“It’s not because I’m Bad Bunny and I have 40 million followers and I want to – no. I’m a normal human being and I have feelings and I get mad and I get happy, and that’s how I make my music.”
Bad Bunny rose to fame through hits such as MIA (2018), I Like It (2018), Me Porto Bonito (2022) and Dakiti (2020).
PHOTO: AFP
The next Super Bowl half-time show, sponsored by streaming service Apple Music, will be broadcast on NBC. The NFL announced Bad Bunny’s selection on social media and during half-time of NBC’s Sunday Night Football with a video of the artiste sitting atop a yellow goalpost crossbar on a beach. His 2022 song Callaita played in the background.
“What Benito has done and continues to do for Puerto Rico is truly inspiring,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “We are honoured to have him on the world’s biggest stage.”
There had been weeks of rumours that American pop star Taylor Swift would be the headliner.
Her 21-month Eras Tour, which ended in December 2024, grossed a record US$2 billion (S$2.58 billion) in ticket sales, and she announced her engagement to the Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce
“We would always love to have Taylor play,” Mr Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, said in a recent interview on the Today show, a comment that fed the speculation. “She is a special, special talent, and, obviously, she would be welcome at any time.”
The NFL in 2019 partnered Roc Nation, asking the company to produce the Super Bowl half-time shows. Since then, the half-time performances have predominantly featured hip-hop and R&B artistes: Lamar, Usher, Rihanna and, in 2022, a medley including Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and Eminem.
The partnership’s first Super Bowl half-time show, in 2020, featured Latin music in performances by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. NYTIMES
