Leave it to Bad Bunny to make history twice in one month.
After taking home the Grammy for album of the year for “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” (the first all-Spanish-language album to be recognized in the coveted category) on Feb. 1, the Puerto Rican artist will add a new accolade to his list of accomplishments.
When he takes the field Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the 31-year-old will become the first Spanish-language Latin solo artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, first sang at the Super Bowl in 2020 alongside headliners Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in Miami, delivering an unforgettable performance that showcased Latin music’s might and rising mainstream success.
While that show remains a culturally significant event for Latinos in the U.S., Bad Bunny’s performance represents a new milestone, according to Petra Rivera-Rideau and Vanessa Díaz, the co-authors of “P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance.”
Bad Bunny will also be the first reggaeton artist to headline a Super Bowl halftime show. Interpreter Celimar Rivera Cosme, who performed at Bad Bunny’s residency in Puerto Rico last year, will also do a multilingual signing program featuring Puerto Rican Sign Language.
Here’s what else to know.
Bad Bunny gives spoiler-free preview of show
While avoiding potential spoilers, Bad Bunny said viewers can expect him to bring “a lot of my culture.”
“I just want people to have fun. It’s going to be a huge party,” Bad Bunny said at a news conference hosted by Apple Music, the halftime show’s main sponsor, on Tuesday.
He also poked fun at his “Saturday Night Live” monologue from October in which he told non-Spanish-speaking viewers they had four months to learn Spanish ahead of the halftime show.
“They don’t even have to learn Spanish,” he said Tuesday. “It is better if they learn to dance.”
As for possible surprise guests? “Well, you know, that’s something that I’m not going to tell you,” he joked.
Why has there been backlash toward Bad Bunny?
Bad Bunny will be performing as the Trump administration continues its wide-scale immigration crackdown and arrests Latino immigrants in large numbers.
In January, federal immigration authorities who were carrying out operations in Minneapolis fatally shot two U.S. citizens. Their deaths have amplified calls for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities where immigration raids have taken place.
Bad Bunny has not shied away from politics, particularly when it comes to Puerto Rico. The singer was among a handful of artists at the Grammys who made bold “ICE out” statements. He also previously called out the U.S. government’s botched response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2018 and demanded justice in the killing of Alexa, a trans woman in Puerto Rico, in 2020.
The artist has described his Grammy-winning album, which translates to “I Should Have Taken More Photos,” as his most Puerto Rican release yet. To pay tribute to his heritage, the singer blended reggaeton and other Latin urban rhythms with more traditional genres like salsa and Puerto Rican folk sounds like bomba y plena.
“The most important thing is that there’s an unapologetically Spanish-language artist at the Super Bowl,” Rivera-Rideau said. “And then, the fact that it’s happening in this particular political climate just adds even more significance.”
Since 2020, Jay-Z and his entertainment company Roc Nation have booked the talent for the halftime show.
After Bad Bunny was announced as the headliner in September, he drew criticism from a handful of conservative pundits and Fox News commentators.
“Do I consider Bad Bunny to be an ‘American artist?’ No,” conservative commentator Tomi Lahren said in October. (Puerto Rico is an American territory and Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.)
The NFL has stood by its decision to enlist Bad Bunny. When asked about the artist’s “ICE out” remarks at the Grammys, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended him and said the Super Bowl halftime show “is used to unite people.”
“I think Bad Bunny understands that,” Goodell said Tuesday. “He’ll have a great performance.”
The NFL has also said there will be no ICE operations at the Super Bowl, NBC Bay Area reported.
In anticipation of the Super Bowl, Trump told the New York Post that he’d be skipping the event this year and called Bad Bunny a “terrible choice.”
Is anyone else performing Sunday?
Green Day is set to kick off the Super Bowl’s opening ceremony.
The band is known to be quite political, with its 2004 album “American Idiot” criticizing then-President George W. Bush and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
The group has also been vocal about MAGA and Trump.
After Green Day plays, Charlie Puth will sing the national anthem, Brandi Carlile will sing “America the Beautiful,” and Coco Jones will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
How to watch
Kickoff for the actual game is at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. That means the halftime show will likely happen at — you guessed it — the halfway point, around 8-8:30 p.m. ET.
Viewers can watch the game on NBC. Peacock subscribers can also stream the game on the service. The game will also be available in Spanish live on Telemundo.
Meanwhile, Turning Point USA, the conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, will be hosting an alternative halftime show headlined by country and rock singer Kid Rock. Country singers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett are also participating.