Dangerous Bunny has been introduced because the headliner for the 2026 Tremendous Bowl halftime present.
The NFL revealed on Sunday that the 31-year-old Puerto Rican rapper will carry out on the sport, which will likely be held in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8, 2026.
Dangerous Bunny, whose actual title is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, confirmed that he had nabbed the coveted slot in an Instagram reel. It opens with Martínez up shut, earlier than finally zooming out to see him sitting casually on a purpose publish.
“What I am feeling goes past myself. It is for many who got here earlier than me and ran numerous yards so I might are available and rating a landing,” Martínez stated in an announcement. “That is for my individuals, my tradition, and our historical past. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”
Very like final yr’s headliner, Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar, Martínez has been dubbed by some as a controversial selection due to his criticism of President Trump and U.S. immigration insurance policies. It additionally will not be the primary time Martínez has carried out on the Tremendous Bowl. In 2020, he joined fellow Latin music superstars and headliners Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in the course of the halftime present.
Contemporary off the heels of a two-month Puerto Rican residency, No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí, Martínez can also be set to take the stage as host of Saturday Night time Dwell’s Season 51 premiere on Oct. 4.
Right here’s what it’s essential find out about Dangerous Bunny.
He’s a trailblazer for Spanish-language rap
Martínez has been credited with serving to Spanish-language rap obtain widespread reputation. He gained traction as a rapper in 2016 with the discharge of his track “Soy Peor,” earlier than being featured on Cardi B’s Billboard Sizzling 100 No. 1 single, “I Like It,” in 2018. Martínez’s third solo album, 2020’s El Último Tour Del Mundo, made historical past because the first all-Spanish language document to prime the Billboard 200 chart.
Martínez has continued to push Spanish-language rap into the mainstream. Un Verano Sin Ti, his fourth solo album, was the bestselling document of 2022 and made historical past as the primary Spanish-language album to be nominated for Album of the 12 months on the Grammys. (It was additionally the primary album by a Latin artist to have 10 billion streams on Spotify.) Martínez’s follow-up albums, 2023’s Que Va a Pasar Mañana and 2025’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos, have every taken the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 as properly.
That Martínez performs primarily in Spanish is among the many the reason why some conservative public figures are criticizing the NFL’s choice to have him headline the Tremendous Bowl halftime present subsequent yr.
However the rapper-singer, who was Spotify’s most-streamed artist from 2020 to 2022, stays unbothered by the criticism.
“It’s simply that I really feel extra comfy in my very own language. … I feel in Spanish, I really feel in Spanish, I eat in Spanish, I sing in Spanish,” Martínez advised Vainness Honest in 2023, earlier than addressing whether or not he’d ever sing in English, “I’m by no means going to do it simply because somebody says I have to do it to achieve a sure viewers.”
He’s happy with his Puerto Rican heritage
Martínez’s Puerto Rican delight runs deep. The “Alambre Púa” rapper was born in Bayamón and raised within the northern a part of Puerto Rico, particularly in Vega Baja. His newest LP, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, launched in January, serves as a love letter to his Puerto Rican upbringing and the tradition as a complete. He recorded the album solely on the island and collaborated solely with native musicians.
As he advised Vogue in Could, Debí Tirar Más Fotos is “an album the place you’re going to overlook a love but in addition a spot.” And the album’s 14th observe, “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” which references the colonial historical past of Hawaii, is Martínez’s approach of warning Puerto Ricans of the damaging penalties of U.S. colonization — and the push to protect their tradition and identification.
Dangerous Bunny performing in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 11. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Photographs)
Martínez’s not too long ago concluded 31-date Puerto Rico residency was yet one more approach he has given again to the place he calls residence. Along with breaking data in gross sales and attendance, No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí generated an estimated $733 million for Puerto Rico, in line with the Related Press by way of knowledge from Gaither Worldwide.
“I’ve all the time had the identical ardour [and] love for what I am doing,” Martínez stated on stage throughout his Sept. 20 present. “I promise I’ll by no means change. I like you, Puerto Rico. … It does not matter what your difficulty or downside is, love will all the time be the answer.”
He’s an actor, too
When he’s not lighting up the stage, Martínez is showing on the massive and small screens. Within the final 4 years, the “NUEVAYoL” rapper has maintained a gentle presence in Hollywood, nabbing roles in blockbuster flicks like 2021’s F9, 2022’s Bullet Practice and 2023’s Cassandro, and even showing as himself at a handful of WWE occasions.
Dangerous Bunny within the movie Caught Stealing, launched earlier this yr. (Sony Footage/Courtesy Everett Assortment)
Martínez, who was additionally in a high-profile relationship with mannequin Kendall Jenner for lower than a yr, most not too long ago appeared in Comfortable Gilmore 2 alongside Adam Sandler and Caught Stealing alongside Austin Butler.
“Once I’m performing within the stadium, everyone seems to be watching me. If you find yourself in a film set, it’s very private,” Martínez advised NBC’s At present present in August. “It’s like me and the actors. that there’s a digicam, however typically you overlook about. I feel that’s while you actually get into the function and get into the scene and get into the story.”
He’s politically outspoken
Martínez has lengthy used his platform to highlight Puerto Rican individuals and take a stance in opposition to Trump. He determined to exclude america from his upcoming “Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour” as a result of ongoing immigration raids and mass deportations by the Trump administration.
The 57-show tour, which offered a document 2.6 million tickets in only one week, will go to a sequence of nations, together with Sweden, Poland, Italy and Japan. Martínez not too long ago advised i-D journal that he selected to not go to america as a result of he feared that ICE would goal his followers.
“There have been many the reason why I didn’t present up within the U.S., and none of them had been out of hate — I’ve carried out there many occasions. All of [the shows] have been profitable. All of them have been magnificent,” he stated. “Latinos and Puerto Ricans of america might additionally journey right here [to Puerto Rico], or to any a part of the world. However there was the difficulty of — like, f***ing ICE could possibly be exterior [my concert]. And it’s one thing that we had been speaking about and really involved about.”
