Bad Bunny says he will bring his culture to 2026 Super Bowl halftime performance

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This article was published 04/02/2026 (225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bad Bunny says he’s approaching his highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime performance with a mix of excitement, gratitude and perspective.

“To be honest, I don’t know how I’m feeling. There’s a lot. I’m still in the middle of my tour. I was just at the Grammys last week. All of that,” he said in English on Thursday at a press event hosted by Apple Music. He walked out to his 2017 single “Chambea.”

“I’m excited, but at the same time, I feel more excited about the people than even me — my family, my friends, the people who have always believed in me,” he said. “This moment, the culture — that’s what makes these shows special.”

Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is one of the most-streamed artists on the planet. He will take the Super Bowl stage just one week after he won album of the year at the 2026 Grammys for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.” It’s the first time an all Spanish-language album has taken home the top prize.

During the conference, Bad Bunny joked that fans didn’t need to learn Spanish to enjoy his set — but they should be prepared to dance, a reference to his “Saturday Night Live” monologue from last October.

Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden hosted the conversation with Bad Bunny. Thursday’s event began with conversations with pregame performers at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

This year, a long line formed well before the doors opened, with credentialed media — including a noticeable presence of Spanish-language and Latin American outlets — packing the conference room nearly an hour before the news conference began.

It marked a stark contrast to Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 news conference, when the room didn’t fill up until roughly 15 minutes before the event.

What can viewers expect from the Super Bowl halftime show?

Despite the heightened interest, Bad Bunny offered few specifics about what viewers will see Sunday.

“It’s going to be a huge party,” he said. “What people can expect from me … I want to bring to the stage, of course, a lot of my culture. But I really don’t, I don’t want to give any spoilers. It’s going to be fun.”

For the artist, the journey to the Super Bowl was never driven by recognition or awards. He said “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” became his most meaningful project because it was rooted in reconnecting with his identity, history and culture but not chasing milestones.

“I wasn’t looking for album of the year. I wasn’t looking to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show,” he said. “I was just trying to connect with my roots, connect with my people, connect with myself.”

That mindset, he said, ultimately opened the door to something larger: bringing a deeply personal expression of culture to one of the world’s biggest stages.

“You always have to be proud of who you are and where you’re from,” he said. “But don’t let that limit where you can go.”

Bad Bunny is no stranger to the Super Bowl stage. He previously appeared during the halftime show at Super Bowl LIV in 2020 alongside Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. But he said his focus has remained unchanged.

“My biggest pleasure is just to create, have fun doing it and connect with the people,” he said. “That’s what I’m always looking for every time I’m in the studio.”

When asked if he will have surprise guests, he said “That’s something I’m not going to tell you.”

Then he said he will actually have a lot of guests watching — his friends, family, “the Latino community,” and people around the world who love his music.

At the end of the interview, Bad Bunny took questions from a few student journalists, including one who asked him to name an early supporter. “My mom,” the singer replied.

“Before everything, she believed in me as a person, as a human. She believed in me, in my decisions, in my opinions,” he continued. “I think that’s what got me here, you know? Not because she believed that I was a great artist but that she believed that I am a great person.”

The Super Bowl will be held Sunday at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Seattle Seahawks facing off against the New England Patriots.

Who else is performing at the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl pregame show will open with several standout performers in Northern California: Charlie Puth will hit the stage to sing the national anthem, Brandi Carlile will take on “America the Beautiful” and Coco Jones will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

“I want them to feel inspired. I want everybody to know that music is such an amazing thing,” Puth said of his performance.

“This is pretty much the top of the top,” added Jones. “This is the bee’s knees. … It’s hard to compete. Maybe my wedding will be up there.”

The national anthem and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” will be performed by deaf performing artist Fred Beam in American Sign Language. Julian Ortiz will sign “America the Beautiful.”

Before the game, Green Day will play a set to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Super Bowl. The band, which has its roots in the Bay Area, plans to “Get loud!” according to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong.

In a historic first, the halftime show will include a multilingual signing program featuring Puerto Rican Sign Language, led by interpreter Celimar Rivera Cosme. She was also the interpreter for Bad Bunny’s landmark residency in Puerto Rico last year that drew more than half a million fans.

All signed performances for the pregame and halftime shows will be presented in collaboration with Alexis Kashar of LOVE SIGN and Howard Rosenblum of Deaf Equality.

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Associated Press Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report from New York.

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For more on the Super Bowl, visit https://apnews.com/hub/super-bowl