Bad Bunny Scores Big for Puerto Rico at the Super Bowl
- Emma Brugna
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Benito sends America a message of unity and cultural pride.
By: Emma Brugna
Bad Bunny celebrated his Puerto Rican pride and heritage by making history as the first Latino artist to headline the world’s biggest stage.
The Puerto Rican rapper and singer added to his historic run at the 2026 Grammys, where “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” won album of the year (AOTY). The victory marked another milestone for the global superstar and was only the beginning of his statements in 2026.
A week later, Bad Bunny, who introduced himself with his full name, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, took the stage as the headliner of the Super Bowl LX halftime show.
The performance opened in a sugar cane field, where a farm worker sported a pava: a traditional woven straw hat worn by Puerto Rican farmers. He stood surrounded by tall stalks of cane, exclaiming “Qué rico es ser latino,” translating to, “How wonderful it is to be Latino.”
Bad Bunny then emerged from the sugar cane field (consisting of dancers in grass costumes), surrounded by workers chopping cane, where he opened with his hit song “Tití Me Preguntó”. The scene referenced the island’s history of sugar cane plantations and the brutal toil endured by past generations, paying homage to Latino labor and ancestry.
Styled by Storm Pablo and Marvin Douglas Linares, Bad Bunny wore a cream collared shirt and tie layered with a jersey featuring his family name, Ocasio, and the number 64, paired with chinos and sneakers. He later added a matching double-breasted blazer. The number honored the birth year of his late uncle, Cutito, who introduced Bad Bunny to the NFL and shared his love for the San Francisco 49ers.
As the music continued, Bad Bunny traveled across a landscape of the Puerto Rican countryside. He passed familiar neighborhood scenes and small businesses, including a taco stand, nail salon, and a piragua stand serving Puerto Rican snow cones, while a group of men gathered around a dominoes table. Puerto Rican boxer Xander Zayas and Mexican-American boxer Emiliano Vargas trained between the vendors.
Another central aspect of the performance was La Casita, a main element from Bad Bunny’s sold-out residency of the previous year, representing a traditional Puerto Rican home. It filled the stage as celebrity appearances by Cardi B, Jessica Alba, Pedro Pascal, Karol G, Young Miko and Alix Earle flashed across the screen.
La Casita symbolized the tradition of “party de marquesina”: gatherings where family, friends and neighbors come together, mirroring a recurring theme in Bad Bunny’s music emphasizing community and belonging.
As he exited La Casita, a remix of reggaeton classics played, blending Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina,” Tego Calderón’s “Pa’ Que Retozen” and Don Omar’s “Dale Don Dale.” Speaking in Spanish, Bad Bunny told the crowd, “You’re listening to music from Puerto Rico. From the barrios and the projects,” before singing “EoO.”
Mid-performance, a couple was married in a live ceremony. After previously receiving an invitation to their wedding, Bad Bunny had invited them to take part in the show.
As the wedding crowd parted, Lady Gaga made a surprise appearance, performing a salsa rendition of her duet with Bruno Mars “Die With a Smile,” as the couple cut their wedding cake and shared a kiss.
Bad Bunny and Gaga then danced salsa onstage as she wore a custom blue Luar dress and a Flor de Maga brooch, Puerto Rico’s national flower. The blue shade of Gaga's dress was a nod to the original Puerto Rican flag, reinforcing the show’s emphasis on Latino and Puerto Rican heritage.
Following Bad Bunny’s AOTY win, Lady Gaga had praised him in an interview with Entertainment Tonight after his speech condemning the Trump Administration's violent operations against immigrants.
“He’s so incredibly kind, and I thought what he said was incredibly important right now and so inspiring,” Lady Gaga explained. “What’s happening in this country is incredibly heartbreaking, and we’re so lucky to have leaders like him that are speaking up for what is true and what is right.”
As a major U.S. pop star, Gaga’s presence acted as a bridge between cultures, symbolizing the country standing (or dancing) with Puerto Rico.
While performing “NUEVAYoL,” a tribute to immigrants and Puerto Rico’s diaspora in New York, a family and their young son (Lincoln Fox) watched Bad Bunny’s Grammy acceptance speech on a small television. Bad Bunny then stepped onto the set and handed him a Grammy. Fox symbolized a young Benito — a reminder that the children watching from home could one day be the ones holding the trophy.
His team called the moment “a powerful reminder of possibility, that we are all that child at some point, dreaming big and believing in what could be.”
For his second special guest, Bad Bunny brought out Puerto Rico’s Ricky Martin. The icon delivered a moving performance of “Lo Que Paso a Hawaii,” Bad Bunny’s song about resisting the colonization and gentrification of Puerto Rico. Martin performed against a backdrop recreating the cover of Bad Bunny’s album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS”.
Benito then climbed an exploding power line, holding the Puerto Rican flag high. The moment was widely interpreted as a reference to the island’s long-lasting issues with its electric grid, an ongoing issue since being hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
As the performance came to a close, Bad Bunny locked eyes with the camera and spoke in English for the only time during the entire performance, saying, “God Bless America.” He then called out every nation in North, Central and South America as dancers carried their flags across the stage, with the U.S. and Puerto Rican flags boldly displayed behind him, emphasizing that “America” consists not only of the U.S., but of all countries in the continents combined.
Bad Bunny drove this point home by spiking a football with the message “Together We Are America” written on it before performing his final anthem, “DtMF,” a love letter to Puerto Rico.
This performance was more than a halftime show: it was a statement. In moments of political tension and ongoing debates over immigration, Bad Bunny used his platform to celebrate unity, resilience and cultural pride — offering a version of patriotism rooted in inclusion and love.
While some conservatives, including President Donald Trump, have labeled Bad Bunny as anti-American, he proved otherwise. Benito redefined what it means to be American in a time of division. The heart of his message was highlighted on screen at Levi’s Stadium as he closed his set, reading:
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Emma Brugna is one of Rowdy’s co-Editor-in-Chiefs. She is a sports media journalism major who has been listening to Bad Bunny nonstop since this performance and waiting for the Giants’ next Super Bowl.