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Bad Bunny Skipped the States on Tour. Now He’s Set to Play America’s Biggest Stage.

The NFL announced on Sunday night that the Puerto Rican pop star would headline the Super Bowl’s halftime show.

Bad Bunny performs on stage with two dancers, wearing a fur hat, sunglasses, white sweatshirt, and holding out a gloved hand.
Bad Bunny will be the Super Bowl LX headliner. ‘I’ve been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States,’ he wrote in Spanish on X. Photo: Alejandro Granadillo/Associated Press

Bad Bunny’s residency in San Juan was the hottest ticket of the summer, as a steady stream of celebrities—including LeBron James, Penélope Cruz and Austin Butler—traveled to Puerto Rico to see the singer perform on his home turf. Many fans were willing to make the trip in part because the star wasn’t planning any performances in the mainland United States.

But he’s making an exception for the biggest show of them all: Bad Bunny will headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8, the National Football League announced Sunday night. 

“I’ve been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States,” Bad Bunny wrote in Spanish on X.

In a short video released by the NFL on Sunday, the Puerto Rican superstar sits on the goal posts as his hit “Callaíta” pumps in the background. “What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny 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.”

He added in Spanish, “go tell your grandma that we’re going to be the Super Bowl halftime show.”

Bad Bunny is no stranger to this stage—he appeared once before as a guest, joining co-headliners Jennifer Lopez and Shakira during their set in 2020.

Since then, he’s become one of the biggest artists in the world. In 2024, he was the third-most-streamed act on Spotify behind only Taylor Swift and the Weeknd. Bad Bunny released his latest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” in January; it spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. 

The singer announced his San Juan residency in the same month. “I’m in Puerto Rico, I’m home, having fun and, to be honest, I don’t want to leave,” he said in a video posted on Instagram. 

Bad Bunny later explained that it was “unnecessary” to tour the mainland U.S. as he had done so twice in 2022 and again in 2024. He also said he was worried about the possibility of ICE raids at his shows.

 

Shakira and Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Shakira has a sparkly red dress, Bad Bunny has a metallic silver suit.
Shakira and Bad Bunny onstage during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2020. Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images

 

The star performed 31 shows in San Juan—an initial round of 30, plus one extra show that was livestreamed by Amazon Music. Later in the year, he will tour Latin America and continue to perform in Europe, Japan and Australia through the summer of 2026. Bad Bunny will also host the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” on Oct. 4.

“As one of the most influential and streamed artists in the world, his unique ability to bridge genres, languages, and audiences makes him an exciting and natural choice to take the Super Bowl halftime stage,” Jon Barker, the NFL’s senior vice president of global event production, said in a statement.

The announcement of Bad Bunny’s performance may be a tough blow for Swift’s fans, who had predicted that the singer would play during Super Bowl LX. 

Their theory was based largely on what they believed were subtle hints from the star during her appearance on “New Heights,” the podcast co-hosted by Travis Kelce and his brother Jason. Swift is famous for leaving “Easter eggs” for her fans to decipher. 

On the podcast, a Vince Lombardi trophy awarded to Super Bowl winners sat on the shelf behind Swift. In addition, she made references to the number 47 (the 47th stop on her Eras Tour was Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, also the home of Super Bowl LX) and sourdough bread (sourdough bread = S.B. = Super Bowl. Get it?). Hardcore fans saw these as clues that she would take the stage during halftime.

For Molly Swindall, a longtime Swiftie, all this speculation and detective work serves as a way for the singer’s followers to “come together and have a good time.” 

“If we are wrong, it’s not that serious,” she says. “Once one theory is incorrect, we’re like, ‘all right, what’s our next theory?’”

Write to Elias Leight at elias.leight@wsj.com

Author: Elias Leight

Source: WSJ:

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