On September 28th 2025, the NFL along with Apple Music announced who would be playing the 2026 Superbowl halftime show during the Sunday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers.
Hours before the official announcement, both NFL and Apple Music posted cryptic messages all over social media, letting Superbowl fans guess who could be performing this year.
Then during the halftime of the Cowboys and Packers game a high production video was broadcasted and shared across all media platforms of Latino artist Bad Bunny sitting on a goalpost on a beach in his hometown Puerto Rico.
This artist stood out from previous superbowl performing artists, because he would be the first Latino solo artist to headline a Superbowl and perform a whole set almost entirely in Spanish.
Bad Bunny is a Reggaeton artist who started out his career in 2016 working at a grocery store and being a small artist. It wasn’t until 2018 when his first album X 100PRE played on the radio, and he began to gain recognition.
Now in 2026, Bad Bunny is known around the globe for his hit music, record breaking streaming numbers, and most recently his new album DeBi Tirar Mas Fotos, which won Album of The Year at the 2026 grammy’s hosted on February 1st a week before the Superbowl.
DeBi Tirar Mas Fotos was the first Album of The Year that was sung entirely in Spanish, again making history for Latinos. The album’s significance spans across just being sung in Spanish, it addresses big issues in Puerto Rico, along with colonialism and loss of culture in the country.
Seven out of the 18 songs performed in his halftime set were from the award winning DeBi Tirar Mas Fotos album, allowing the artist to bring the message his album contained to a broader audience on a global scale.
While many people were excited when Bad Bunny was announced as this year’s Superbowl halftime act, it sparked a controversial discussion about a Latino solo artist headlining the Superbowl, and singing the set in mostly Spanish.
This controversial discussion stemmed from a bigger controversial topic about the recent involvement of ICE the U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Agency for Immigration and Costumes, and their actions in the past couple of months.
During the 2026 Grammy’s, Bad Bunny along with many other artists during their acceptance speech took a moment to comment on the current state of what’s happening.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ‘ICE out.’ We’re not savage; we’re not animals; we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans,” Bad Bunny said during his televised acceptance speech for Album of the Year.
Bad Bunny also used the Superbowl stage to continue spreading a message, “Love is more powerful than hate.” A message that spread across the jumbo tron before ending the performance with hit song DeBi Tirar Mas Fotos.
Bad Bunny’s impact has been felt all over the world, especially here in South Windsor, and at South Windsor High School. Assistant Principal Jessica Serrano shared her thoughts on the artist and his performance.
“Bad Bunny has made history as he is the first performer to have an entire performance in Spanish, while he is not the first to include Spanish in his performance. He is one of the most-streamed artists worldwide on Spotify, and as a whole, he is making history by exposing a larger population to Latino music, such as reggaeton,” Serrano said.
Apart from his impactful messages in the performance, Bad Bunny included multiple references to the country Puerto Rico with his set design. Nail shops on the corner, tall grass referencing a day working in the fields, even the wedding that took place during the performance to represent celebrations in Puerto Rican culture.
South Windsor High School Spanish teacher Genny Tobon-Escobedo commented on what her favorite part of the performance was.
“My favorite part was the number of references to Latino culture/ Puerto Rican culture. References such as the sugar cane, the piraguas, also the kid sleeping on the chairs during weddings and parties, which I could relate to portions of my own life,” Tobon-Escobedo said.
Serrano’s favorite part about Bad Bunny’s performance was how he shared Puerto Rican culture.
“Bad Bunny celebrated our roots through music, language, and imagery that reflected Puerto Rico yet it also brought people together. He waved multiple flags at the end of the performance and named countries across the Americas to show that diversity and family are part of our shared identity as a whole continent.”
