Bad Bunny Dishes on Super Bowl Halftime Show & Special Guests

With a mere matter of days to go before the Super Bowl 2026, Halftime Show headliner Bad Bunny dished on his journey to the Big Game at the official Apple Music press conference.

Sitting down with Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden waxed candid about how important the album ‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS’ and era are to him and how it’s only fueled his intense feelings of thankfulness heading into the biggest performance of his career to date.

The superstar, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, also spoke on his preparation process for Halftime, the importance of his mother’s support, and why the world doesn’t need to learn Spanish to appreciate his performance. For him, they just need to dance!

He also offered up an interesting response when quizzed on surprise guests.

Head below for quotes and watch the full press conference:

On what fans can expect this Sunday…

“I just want people to have fun. It’s gonna be a huge party. I want to bring that to the stage, a lot of my culture. I really don’t want to give any spoilers. It’s gonna be easy. People only have to worry about dancing. I know I told people they had a month to learn Spanish, but they don’t even need to do that! It’s better that they learn to dance. There’s no better dance than the one that comes from the heart.”

On what guests will be at his performance on Sunday…

“Of course I have a lot of guests. There’s gonna be my family and friends, and all the Latino community around the world who support me, they’ll be with me. Everyone who’s stopped me on the street, they only wish good things on me. I know the world is gonna be happy this Sunday. They’re gonna dance and they’re gonna have a good time.”

On how important his album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS is to him and how it’s only fueled his intense feelings of thankfulness heading into Sunday…

“It’s the most special project that I’ve ever done, because it brought me to here. I wasn’t looking for anything; I wasn’t looking for Album of the Year at the Grammys and the Latin Grammys. I wasn’t looking to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. I just was looking to connect with my roots, with my people more than ever, connect with myself, with my history, with my culture. And I did it in a very honest way. I only wanted to perform at the residency, and that’s it. I say ‘I don’t want to leave here. I want to stay here the whole time.’ And then it was like, ‘Oh, wow. The world really wants me, so I should go to give some love… show love to the world.. to Latin America.’ And then the opportunity to bring that feeling that I put on that album to one of the biggest stages in the world is something that I never thought [possible]. Definitely, this album is the most special, because as I said, I was trying to connect with myself and my roots, and that tells you something, that I already knew before, but now it’s like confirmed. You always have to proud about who you are, and feel comfortable being yourself. Feel proud about your history and where you’re from, but don’t let that limit yourself. I know where I come from but I also know where I can go. This is an album that’s gonna be in my heart for my whole life.”

On how he is feeling right now…

“To be honest, I don’t know how I’m feeling. This is a lot, you know? I’ve been saying that I’m still in the middle of my tour. I just was at the Grammys last week. All of that, I’ve been working on this show, what we’re going to do next Sunday. So it’s been a lot, of course. There’s a lot of gratitude, it’s how I’ve been feeling, this whole year with the album, with DTmF, the biggest feeling has been grateful. Even though it’s very serious, I feel so grateful. I’m happy, but I’m just processing and taking one day at a time, and just living. I’m excited about this performance, but I’m more excited about the people—about my family, about my friends, people that I know that have always believed in me—and they’re happy because of this moment and the culture. That’s what’s making this show so special.”

On how sports have played a part in his life….

“I grew up watching sports, playing sports very bad, but I do love sports. It’s actually one of my favorite combinations, sports and music—it’s where I really feel very passionate.”

On how he didn’t manifest another Super Bowl performance, and instead thinks about connecting with people through his music…

[After performing with Shakira in the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime show] “It’s not like I said, ‘I wanna come back here by myself.’ My team, they said it, ‘We’re coming back,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ I’m never looking for this. It may sound like me trying to be the most humble or naive, but I swear, I’m never looking for my biggest achievement, my biggest pleasure is to just create. Have fun doing it and connect with the people. When I drop a song and I’m speaking about my feelings, or drop a song and I’m speaking about what I did last night, and people connect with me, that’s the best feeling. That’s what I’m always looking for when I’m at the studio working. That’s why I always work with friends. To me it’s a very intimate space. I never say, let me work with the producer that’s the hottest right now..or this songwriter. I write all my songs, I produce with my friends, and very talented people, and that’s how I feel, that’s my thing. I don’t know what i’m talking about, I forget the question. I’m just trying to say all the English words that I know.”

On why his mother has always been his biggest supporter…

“My mom, she said before I became this, the first person that comes to my mind is my mom because she believed in me. I’m not talking about my usic career, I’m talking about everything. She believed in me as a person, as a human. She believed in me, in my opinions, my decisions, my taste, my choices. She believed that I could be a good person, you know? A smart guy, talented. Not that she believed I was a great artist, but she believed that I’m a great person, and that feels better than anything else.”

Your thoughts?

[Photo Credit: Apple Music]