The 2026 Super Bowl performance featured dancing and lively Latin pop music. When asked before his performance if the audience should learn Spanish, headliner Benito Antionio Martínez Ocasio, known as Bad Bunny, stated, “It’s going to be easy, people only have to worry about dancing. They don’t even have to learn Spanish. Better they learn to dance. There is no better dance than the one that comes from the heart.”
There was plenty of dancing to be found on stage amongst the more than 300 performers, including Bad Bunny himself. Within the performance, the scenic elements helped to communicate the narrative of Puerto Rico, including power outages, enslavement of sugar cane workers, hurricane aftermath, the pandemic and stars from Puerto Rico.
The performance was designed to replicate a block party. The performance highlighted the laymen with everyday people doing their everyday jobs on stage, including farmers, nail technicians and boxers. Bad Bunny chose to highlight individuals, creating a sense of national and individual pride.
In addition to the overarching themes and lively performance, there was an extreme attention to minute details. The performance included 9,852 theatrical pyrotechnic devices, 383 extras dressed as grass, and a large stage modeled after the home of Román Carrasco Delgado, a resident of Puerto Rico featured in Bad Bunny’s short film “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.” Amongst the 300 performers, two got engaged during the show, while two had their actual wedding.
Following his performance at the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny became the second artist to send a song to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after performing the halftime show. His hit song “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” was his first to make it into the all-genre Hot 100 as a lead artist. This is the first time an all-Spanish song has topped the Hot 100 chart since 1987. The song “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” was nominated for Record and Song of the Year in the 2026 Grammy Awards. The album was nominated for and won Album of the Year, so it is no surprise that the title song would now be topping charts. Benito’s album was the first non-English album to win Album of the Year.
Just like last year, the Super Bowl halftime performance was notable due to the controversy surrounding it. When the NFL selected Bad Bunny, there was much backlash from more conservative viewers of the game. Many complained because Bad Bunny performs in Spanish, is from Puerto Rico, and is vocal about his anti-immigration enforcement political beliefs.
Amidst the controversy, Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said that this alternative program “is an opportunity for all Americans to enjoy a halftime show with no agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom.” Despite support from the U.S. Defense Secretary and the President of the United States, the Kid Rock headlined alternative concert produced by Turning Point USA only averaged 4 million streams. In comparison, the official Super Bowl performance became the fourth highest ever viewed, averaging 128.2 million viewers during the performance.
Since the Super Bowl, the track “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” has been the source of controversy again, with the First Lady of the United States using this song in an Instagram post about donating her inaugural gown to the National Museum of American History.
