By the time Bad Bunny took the field at Levi’s Stadium on February 8, expectations around the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show had reached a rare pitch. The Puerto Rican superstar did not arrive to simply entertain. He reshaped what a halftime show could hold.
Across a tightly constructed 13-minute set, Bad Bunny transformed the most-watched stage in American sports into a layered portrait of Puerto Rican life, blending high-energy reggaeton with cultural storytelling rooted in memory, place and movement.
When the performance ended, the field no longer resembled a football stadium. It had shifted into something far more expansive: a block party, a wedding celebration, a dance floor and a cultural statement all at once. The halftime show functioned not only as a concert but as a narrative that pushed the boundaries of what the Super Bowl stage has historically allowed.
Sunday’s performance marked the first primarily Spanish-language halftime show in Super Bowl history. While Bad Bunny previously appeared as a guest in 2020 alongside J Balvin during Shakira and Jennifer Lopez’s headlining set, and Gloria Estefan performed in 1992 with Miami Sound Machine, this moment carried different weight.
Bad Bunny became the first solo Latino artist to headline the halftime show, delivering a set rooted largely in Spanish and anchored in Puerto Rican heritage.
Below are the moments that defined the night.
An opener grounded in Puerto Rican life
Bad Bunny opened the halftime show with “Tití Me Preguntó,” dressed in all white as he walked through a sugar cane field constructed across midfield. The staging drew from Puerto Rico’s agricultural and working-class history, setting the visual framework from the outset.
As the song unfolded, he moved through staged scenes that included older men playing dominoes, a barber shop and nail salon, a food stand, and a boxing ring featuring Puerto Rican fighters Xander Zayas and Emiliano Vargas. The vignettes appeared briefly but distinctly, presenting everyday neighborhood life as the foundation of the show’s opening statement.
The casita that framed the halftime narrative
After the opener, Bad Bunny reappeared on the roof of a pink casita built at midfield for “Yo Perreo Sola.” The structure remained central throughout the performance, anchoring the staging as choreography and camera work tightened around it.
On the field below, guests including Karol G, Cardi B, Jessica Alba and Pedro Pascal were shown dancing together, while others, including Alix Earle, joined from the porch. The moment played as a shared on-field celebration rather than a sequence of individual cameos.
Unapologetic Spanish-language halftime show
Bad Bunny performed most of his set in Spanish, moving through tracks including “Yo Perreo Sola,” “Mónaco,” “NuevaYol,” “El Apagón,” “Café Con Ron” and “DTMF” without translation or spoken framing.
The songs flowed continuously, supported by choreography, live instrumentation and large-scale staging. Bad Bunny did not call attention to the historic nature of the moment, allowing the music and presentation to stand on their own.
A live wedding unfolds at midfield
Midway through the performance, a couple dressed in white walked onto the field alongside an officiant as a wedding ceremony unfolded in Spanish before the stadium crowd. The bride and groom were pronounced husband and wife and shared a kiss as the audience reacted in real time.
The ceremony was later confirmed to be real. According to Bad Bunny’s team, the couple had invited him to their wedding, and he instead invited them to marry during his Super Bowl halftime performance. The moment transitioned seamlessly into a reception-style sequence, complete with dancers and a multi-tiered wedding cake.
Lady Gaga’s understated duet appearance
Lady Gaga appeared during the wedding segment, joining Bad Bunny for a salsa-inflected rendition of “Die With a Smile.” Backed by Los Sobrinos, the duet unfolded without spectacle, with both artists sharing the stage evenly. She remained on the field for “Baile Inolvidable,” dancing alongside Bad Bunny as the segment shifted into one of the show’s most celebratory moments.
The appearance marked Lady Gaga’s third official role in Super Bowl programming, following her national anthem performance in 2016 and her halftime headlining set in 2017.
Ricky Martin anchors the show’s poignant pause
Bad Bunny invited fellow Puerto Rican artist Ricky Martin to the stage for a brief performance of “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawái.” Martin appeared seated on a white plastic chair modeled after the cover of Bad Bunny’s Grammy-winning album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, with a second empty chair beside him.
Behind him, dancers staged a blackout sequence referencing Puerto Rico’s prolonged power crisis following Hurricane Maria. Bad Bunny then joined Martin for “El Apagón,” transitioning the segment back into the main set.
A finale framed by shared identity
As the performance moved toward its conclusion, dancers carrying flags from across the Americas filled the field during “Café Con Ron,” backed by Los Pleneros de la Cresta.
Bad Bunny then appeared holding a football, saying “God bless America” while naming countries across North, Central and South America, ending with Puerto Rico. Behind him, a billboard lit up with the message, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” Before exiting, he spiked the football, revealing the words “Together We Are America.”
Stunts that trusted the crowd
Bad Bunny incorporated two physical stunts into the show. Early on, he crashed through the roof of the casita to enter the scene below. Later, he exited the wedding sequence by falling backward off the roof into the arms of the crowd beneath him.
After landing, he moved through the on-field crowd, briefly stopping to take a drink from Toñita, owner of Brooklyn’s Caribbean Social Club, before continuing the performance.
A Grammy win woven into the broadcast
Near the end of “NuevaYol,” the broadcast cut to footage of Bad Bunny accepting his Album of the Year Grammy one week earlier. The camera focused on a young boy watching alongside his parents.
As the performance continued, Bad Bunny appeared to hand the Grammy to the child before returning to the song, briefly linking his recent win to the live Super Bowl broadcast. In the middle of all that high-octane spectacle, the moment softened the room.
Viewership impact
Official Nielsen ratings for the Super Bowl LX halftime show have yet to be released. That said, early estimates suggest the performance may have reached more than 135 million viewers, a figure that, if validated, would place it among the most-watched halftime shows in Super Bowl history.
The immediate response was evident elsewhere. Media outlets ranked the performance among the greatest Super Bowl halftime shows ever, while Apple Music reported sharp post-show engagement spikes, including a significant rise in streams for “Baile Inolvidable.” The Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime press conference with Bad Bunny also became the most-watched in Super Bowl history within 48 hours.
The night extended beyond halftime
Beyond halftime, the night featured several musical moments. Charlie Puth delivered a restrained, pitch-perfect national anthem from the keyboard, keeping the focus on precision rather than theatrics.
Brandi Carlile followed with “America the Beautiful,” supported by SistaStrings, while Coco Jones performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
On the field, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29–13, led by Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III. Cameras captured attendees including Jay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter, Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lewis Hamilton, Travis Kelce, Roger Federer and Robert Downey Jr., who drew attention in a custom Doctor Doom jersey.
A closing that left the field dancing
Bad Bunny closed the halftime show with “DtMF” as fireworks lit the stadium and dancers filled the field. The performance ended as it began, driven by rhythm, motion and collective release. No encore followed, and non was needed.
Ahead of the show, Bad Bunny said viewers only needed to worry about dancing, a promise the final moments fully delivered.
What was your favorite moment from Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show? Join the conversation on X and share your take, and for more reported music and culture coverage, visit Lyrical Muse.
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