The sun hung low when Bad Bunny emerged in Puerto Rico's sugar cane fields during his halftime show, surrounded by jíbaros in pavas (rural farmers in traditional straw hats), viejitos playing dominos (an affectionate term for older men), and a piragua stand (shaved ice)—undeniable symbols of Puerto Rico. From a small Caribbean island with a complicated colonial history, to the world: The artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio brought Puerto Rican culture to the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for his 2026 Super Bowl halftime show in what was always going to be a landmark moment for Latinos, the AP reports. He started with his huge reggaeton-and-then-some hits, "Tití Me Preguntó" moving into "Yo Perreo Sola," as he reemerged on top of the casita ("little house") from his Puerto Rican residency—Cardi B was a guest at his pari de marquesina ("house party").
Then he crashed through the roof—Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" played for a moment, clearly an acknowledgement and celebration of the Puerto Rican artists who laid the path for his career to go global. "Mi nombre is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio," he introduced himself to the crowd in Spanish. "Y 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." In English: "My name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and 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 strings of his song "Monaco" played—then, a surprise Lady Gaga emerged at a wedding scene, singing her portion of "Die with a Smile," her collaboration with Bruno Mars, joined by a salsa band. Ricky Martin performed "Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii," ("What Happened to Hawaii"), a rallying cry for Puerto Rico's cultural autonomy in an era of neocolonialization. Behind him, jíbaros in pavas climbed power poles that exploded, symbolic of Puerto Rico's frequent blackouts and failing power grid. It queued up a moving performance of Bad Bunny's 2022 song "El Apagón" ("The Blackout"), in reference to Hurricane Maria, its aftermath and the continued anger and frustration over persistent, chronic power outages.
He held a Puerto Rico flag in red, white and baby blue—reflective of the Puerto Rican independence movement. Bad Bunny performed entirely in Spanish—as all of his music is recorded in the language, though he has collaborated with English-language artists. The only English singing came from Gaga. That changed at the end of the set, when he said, "God Bless America," and then named countries in the Caribbean, Central, and South America. "And my motherland, mi patria, Puerto Rico." Behind him, a screen read "The only thing more powerful than hate is love" in English text, a direct reference to one of his recent speeches at the 2026 Grammys.
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