While the reason to tune in to the Super Bowl on Sunday night was ostensibly to watch the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots duke it out for the NFL championship, the buzz leading up to the broadcast was all about the music.

In September, it was announced that Puerto Rican singer and rapper Bad Bunny would headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, and the reaction was passionate. Fans of the reggaeton artist were ecstatic for such an internationally beloved artist to take such a massive stage.

However, conservatives — who do not like that Bad Bunny sings and raps in Spanish, and that he has been critical of President Donald Trump — reacted with anger at the selection. Conservative organization Turning Point USA produced its own alternative “All-American Halftime Show,” with rap-country rocker Kid Rock as headliner.

Despite the blockback from those in Trump’s sphere, the NFL stuck with the global superstar, citing their quest to expand internationally.

So what are Bad Bunny’s bona fides? He was the most-streamed artist on global Spotify for four of the years between 2020 and 2025; he’s won six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year just last week; he was named Billboard’s Artist of the Year for 2025; and he has the distinction of having the first Spanish-language album to reach the top of the weekly Billboard 200 chart.

A native of U.S. territory Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny (whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) makes music about life on the island where he grew up, the struggles he has seen there in his 31 years and the love and loyalty he feels to his native land.

He also wasn’t the only possibly controversial artist performing at the Super Bowl. California post-punk rock band Green Day performed at an opening ceremony — after spending years publicly and stridently criticizing President Trump and his MAGA movement. As recently as earlier this weekend, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong slammed Trump’s immigration policies onstage.

At the start of the opening ceremony, which celebrated 60 years of the big game, previous Super Bowl MVPs were announced on the field as Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” played in the background on violin. Then lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong appeared onstage to sing the last line of the song’s chorus before jumping into an incendiary performance of the band’s hit “Holiday.”

They followed it up with “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” a more subdued song that wasn’t an ideal choice for such a high-octane occasion. They made up for it with their final song, the title track from their 2004 protest album “American Idiot.” The performance was a great hype-up to kick off the spectacle of the Super Bowl, but fans hoping for an in-your-face political message may have come away disappointed. They even removed some of the more contentious verses and segments from the songs they played.

The traditional patriotic tunes were truly impressive this year. R&B singer Coco Jones lent her voice to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” stunning with her range and the emotion and power that she lent to the uplifting lyrics.

Brandi Carlile took the field to sing “America the Beautiful,” accompanied by cello and violin. Her strong, brassy voice was plaintive and lovely, earnestly lending warmth and meaning of the prayer for America in song form.

For the national anthem, Charlie Puth was joined by a full choir, an orchestra and a keyboard he played for a fuller and more lush rendition than most Americans may be used to. He didn’t stretch the anthem out too much, and his soaring final notes filled the whole enormous stadium.

But anticipation was high through the first half of the game for what was coming next.

The halftime show opened with the camera panning over a sugarcane field set up on the field. When Bad Bunny appeared, he was rapping his song “Titi Me Pregunto,” walking through a path in the sugarcane. It was filled with a variety of people, including a Piragua vendor, dancers wearing traditional hats and boxers. Then there was the “Casita,” a small house from the island that is a staple of his performances.

And there were a few famous faces inside that casita — Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, Karol G and Jessica Alba.

Transitioning into his second tune, “Yo Perreo Sola,” he emphasized the woman’s perspective with a message of independence and freedom for women dancing in nightclubs. Not only does it have a great message, it is a great track — it just enhanced the party atmosphere.

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“You’re listening to music from Puerto Rico, from the neighborhoods, from the slums,” Bad Bunny said in Spanish. “The reason I’m here is I never stopped believing in myself.” He played a bit of Daddy Yankee’s banger from the 2000s, “Gasolina.”

The storyline of the show moved into a wedding party, evoking the sense of community and family felt among the people on the island of Puerto Rico despite the hardships felt there.

But the onstage wedding was more meaningful — the couple in this scene actually did get married.

A lot of prospective guest stars were floated by fans and the media leading up to this halftime show, but I doubt many people would’ve won a bet on the actual guest stars — Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.

Lady Gaga sang a portion of her enormous smash single “Die with a Smile,” originally a duet with Bruno Mars. The song was infused with plenty of salsa flair, and Gaga is a consummate performer. She looked lovely in a blue dress with a red and white floral corsage.

“BAILE INoLVIDABLE” was a highlight, and one of the songs Bad Bunny was almost certainly going to play. The reggaeton tune is impossible not to dance to.

NUEVAYoL slayed, a song that serves as tribute to Puerto Rican immigrants to New York City. The song samples “Un Verano en Nueva York.”

In a beautiful moment that symbolized the passing of a torch to a younger generation and giving hope to those in his community, Bad Bunny passed a Grammy Award to a young boy.

Fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martin appeared, still displaying impressive vocal prowess when he joined Bad Bunny on the song “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” a highly political song that warns against letting what happened to Hawaii happen to Puerto Rico.

“El Apagón” was another highlight, and another song with a message — this time, taking aim at difficult topics including blackouts, gentrification, failure of local government and other issues facing the island that he loves and calls home. During this portion of the halftime show, he climbed a light pole, standing atop it as he performed.

But the end of the show was what made it truly special.

Standing among a field of musicians, dancers and people bearing flags from nations spanning the Western Hemisphere, Bad Bunny stood in front of a sign that read “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” He concluded by holding up a football emblazoned with the phrase “Together We Are America.”

Wrapping up with his Grammy Award-winning song “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” was a beautiful choice. The song is a tribute to those who have gone, and using it as a moment to highlight unity between counties, peoples, communities and languages was a perfect choice for an event with such enormous reach.

It was a creative, intricate and meaningful Super Bowl halftime show. True, the majority of viewers in the U.S. could not understand the lyrics (and even people familiar with Spanish might struggle to comprehend them, given the rapid-fire delivery and wordplay). But the passion, love and joy that radiated through television screens all over the world was easily understood.

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