Bad Bunny's Superbowl Halftime Show performance last night was spectacular.
This incredibly detailed, meaning-filled, and well-executed stage moment showed exactly why this talented artist deserves to be a chart-topping songwriter, producer, and singer, and why his legacy as one of Puerto Rico's most prolific creative voices continues to grow and spread far beyond the shores of his home island. Watch the full performance on YouTube here.
But let's be clear, there were a lot of competing narratives swirling around this event that had nothing to do with the artist himself. The media environment today is so self-incentivized and competitive that nothing happening in the world is shielded from the loudest voices seeking to use their commentary on it for their own gains.
In a way this makes sense. In this current moment, culture is shared so globally and yet empathetic conversation and dialogue are both so fractured, both directions being bolstered by algorithm-driven technology designed to feed us more of what our habits suggest we already enjoy. In a macroscopic way, perhaps, the urgency of Bad Bunny's thematic call for unity may have been responding to a greater cry, across all of humanity, for wanting to be seen as more than data points in a field, subscribers, followers, or consumers. Wanting to be truly seen.
For the purpose of this commentary, our only aim is to acknowledge that Bad Bunny's historic performance reminded us of, and reinforced, one of the core tennets we hold dear here at Hypebot (and across our parent company, Bandsintown), as musicians and music lovers, that:
Live music is about joy, and connection.
Here's why:
Music transcends linguistic barriers.
For all the emphasis that was placed on this being the first ever halftime show in Super Bowl history to be sung entirely in Spanish, what it makes clear is that music is so much more than the content of its lyrics. We've probably listened to Bad Bunny's DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS 25 times in the past year, and despite not speaking great Spanish ourselves, continue to derive so much pleasure from this music. On this (as well as any) live stage — with dancers, DJs, musicians, lights and sound and stage design, and a performer oozing with extreme charisma — lyrics are only part of the communication package an artist delivers to their audience.
Music is universal, and music is an embodied form of entertainment, especially in the live space. Language is a hegemonic obstacle that's so often unnecessary to experiencing it.
It's about joy, not just "entertainment."
If Bad Bunny's performance last night was anything, it was a colorful explosion of unfettered joy. How much fun was that?!? Live music isn't just about being "entertainment," it should fill you up with feeling in an infectious way. You have to go get that kind of feeling. Anyone can put on an album at home; it takes investment to get out of your comfort zone and go to a concert, an investment in embodied joy. And... nothing brings people together like a Latinx dance party.
Live music brings an artist's message, voice, and perspective directly to an audience, unfiltered. That's important.
One of our absolute favorite things about live music is that gatekeepers, platforms, third parties, stakeholders, they all go away when you buy a ticket to see your favorite artist perform live. The curtain disappears, the screen cracks, the mystique melts away and what you're left with is the pure interactive space between artist and fan. There's nowhere to hide in that space, and there's nobody there to coopt one's statements, warp or transform them, so it's the perfect environment for artists to share and display how they really feel. Its where authenticity comes out in full effect. Connection happens when all parties can feel comfortable to be their authentic selves.
Unity isn't unity without diversity.
A roomful of people who all look alike, speak alike, and act alike, is not "unity" — that's homogeneity. No growth happens there, no treaties are signed, no innovations are forged. The live music environment is designed to bring people together from different backgrounds who can all come together by means of a shared interest and appreciation in at least one thing, the performer whose work we all enjoy. That, on the other hand, is a model for democracy, for collective governance and citizenry, and the pursuit of a communal morality removed from personal self-interest. In the live music environment, people make space for one another, take care of one another, and feel part of something bigger than themselves. This environment triumphantly claims that: you can be all of yourself here, as long as you respect the space of others.
Taking your local to the global scene.
There's one last thing Bad Bunny's performance made us think about last night. What does it mean for artists to be "on tour?" To us it means bringing the building blocks of your culture and community, which inform your artistic integrity, to other places, people, and cultures. Artistic heritage actually does nothing when it stays at home and exists in a vaccuum. Bring what makes you unique and inspired out on the road and let it interact in these exotic contexts, this benefits everyone by allowing the reach of your transmissions to grow wider and the meaning of your creative makeup to grow deeper. Any artist who's been on tour knows this intimately.
Bad Bunny 2026 Tour Dates
FEB 13 — Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Estadio Mâs Monumental
FEB 20 — São Paulo, Brazil @ Allianz Parque
FEB 21 — São Paulo, Brazil @ Allianz Parque
FEB 28 — Sydney Olympic Park, Australia @ ENGIE Stadium
MAR 01 — Sydney Olympic Park, Australia @ ENGIE Stadium
MAR 01 — Tokyo, Japan @ TBD
MAY 22 — Barcelona, Spain @ Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
MAY 23 — Barcelona, Spain @ Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
MAY 26 — Lisbon, Portugal @ Estádio da Luz
MAY 30 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
MAY 31 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 02 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 03 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 06 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 07 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 10 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 11 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 14 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 15 — Madrid, Spain @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
JUN 20 — Düsseldorf, Germany @ Merkur Spiel-Arena
JUN 21 — Düsseldorf, Germany @ Merkur Spiel-Arena
JUN 23 — Arnhem, Netherlands @ GelreDome
JUN 24 — Arnhem, Netherlands @ GelreDome
JUN 27 — London, United Kingdom @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
JUN 28 — London, United Kingdom @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
JUL 01 — Marseille, France @ Orange Vélodrome
JUL 04 — Paris, France @ Paris La Défense Arena
JUL 05 — Paris, France @ Paris La Défense Arena
JUL 10 — Stockholm, Sweden @ Strawberry Arena
JUL 11 — Stockholm, Sweden @ Strawberry Arena
JUL 14 — Warszawa, Poland @ PGE Narodowy
JUL 17 — Milan, Italy @ Ippodromo Snai La Maura
JUL 18 — Milan, Italy @ Ippodromo Snai La Maura
JUL 22 — Bruxelles, Belgium @ King Baudouin Stadium
