After the risk-averse first half of Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, NBC commentator Cris Collinsworth said the Seahawks’ defence had been “strategic” and “physical” and “overwhelming at times.”
The same adjectives could be used to describe the halftime performance of Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican pop colossus who strictly focused on themes of unity during his uncontroversial but slyly subversive extravaganza at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
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At the end of a blitz of his Spanish-language songs, presented among shrubbery in a Puerto Rican village, he held up a football with the words “Together, we are America” written on it, before spiking it as if he had scored a touchdown. It was justified. Navigating a climate where he was expected to be political by some while others craved only entertainment, Bad Bunny scored points on both sides.
Dressed all in white, the 31-year-old Latin trap icon leaned toward traditional Puerto Rican folk sounds. Opening number Tití Me Preguntó involved a taco truck, a sugar cane plantation, domino players and a wedding proposal. Yo Perreo Sola, an anthem for female empowerment, featured a squad of twerking dancers.
Bad Bunny performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl 60 between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday.Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Associated Press
Bad Bunny scaled a utility pole during El Apagón, a reference to Puerto Rico’s frequent power outages. His own electricity was fine.
There were cameos by Colombian singer Karol G, New York rapper Cardi B, Puerto Rico’s Young Miko, actress Jessica Alba and Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal.
Guest performers included Puerto Rico’s Ricky Martin (Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii) and Lady Gaga, who wore a blue retro dress for a salsa-styled Die With a Smile.
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At one point, Bad Bunny handed a Grammy trophy to a small child – meant to represent his younger self – who was watching his recent Album of the Year acceptance speech on a TV.
The final number Debí Tirar Más Fotos was presented with a parade of flags representing Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United States in an all-Americas salute. A giant stadium sign read: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
The choice of Bad Bunny as the halftime headliner was a bit of a political football. The MAGA crowd was against a Spanish-language artist, and the Trump administration wasn’t onboard either. Homeland Security adviser Corey Lewandowski told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson in October that the choice was “so shameful,” and that the megastar was “somebody who seems to hate America.”
U.S. President Donald Trump wasn’t thrilled. “All it does is sow hatred,” he said last month about the performance.
Acting on the cultural division, Turning Point USA (co-founded by assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk) ran an alternative halftime show opposite the official NFL event on its social media channels. It starred country singers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett, along with Kid Rock, the rap-rock star, Waffle House brawler and darling of the Second Amendment set.
NBC’s pregame entertainment package began with a stirring rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing by Coco Jones, backed by a string octet. The hymn often referred to as the Black national anthem was performed at the same Levi’s Stadium where in 2016, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first knelt on one knee during The Star-Spangled Banner to protest systemic racism in the United States.
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San Francisco-Bay Area band Green Day gave an energetic if sanitized three-song performance that ended with the satirical 2004 hit American Idiot. Playing it safe, a verse the punk-pop veterans had updated in recent years to call out a “MAGA agenda” was skipped.
Two days earlier at a Super Bowl party, singer Billie Joe Armstrong called out Trump and urged ICE agents to quit their job. Performing at the Friday show sponsored by streaming platform Spotify, Green Day stuck it to the man while selling out to a mega corporation.
Eleven-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile offered an acoustic, abbreviated version of the patriotic song America the Beautiful. The Americana star, accompanied by the cello-and-fiddle duo SistaStrings, sang earnestly about amber waves of grain and fruited plains.
Handling the national anthem right before kickoff was Charlie Puth, the Ellen DeGeneres-approved singer-songwriter from New Jersey. Playing a Rhodes keyboard and backed by a gospel choir and a chamber ensemble, he sang more notes than were necessary, but the performance was soulful and respectful. After “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” a flyover by jets from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force reinforced the sentiment.
Trump, who did not attend the game, predictably savaged Bad Bunny’s show, saying it was “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER” in a Truth Social post.
On the field, Seattle defeated New England 29-13. Tough loss for the Patriots.