On February 8th 2026, the 60th superbowl took place. It was between the Seahawks and Patriots. Unlike most Super Bowls , the game was not the primary interest of audience members, but rather, it was the halftime performance by Bad Bunny who was joined by Lady Gaga who performed “Die with a smile” on stage. This halftime performance broke the record for the most watched performance since Kendrick Lamar in 2025.Approximately 135 million people tuning in to watch (according to USA today). ”Gasolina”, which is originally by DY and Pitbull, was added to the performance. Despite all the controversy around Bad Bunny performing because most of his music is in Spanish and because he is from Puerto Rico, it was a breathtaking performance that left people speechless. Jessica Alba made an appearance alongside Cardi B and Karol G. At the end of the performance Bad Bunny raised all of the Latin America flags and the USA last while the billboard displayed the words“The only thing more powerful than hate is love” which many people pointed out as something people should be doing (loving) more in 2026(New York Post).
One notable part of the performance was a couple being married on stage with singers and people in the audience watching. The couple has not publicly spoken out about this, they could speak out about their experience, but it is unsure of. This year the opening act was Greenday. and the reason being very simple that some people in the country based on the news from ( People.com and a Congressman wanting an investigation on Bad Bunny) wanted a group that spoke English and not Spanish. After their performance was revealed it was ironic and iconic due to their New Year’s Rocking Eve in 2024 performance they were singing American Idiot and explicitly said “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda”. Greenday did not bash anyone in the performance, but they ignored the request to not swear and did it anyway.
Kid Rock performed an alternative halftime show on Youtube. Around 5 million people tuned in on Youtube to watch (USA today), there was negative public response to it because it was Pre-recorded. Audience members actually recorded themselves tuning into the alternative one and trying to drown out Bad Bunny’s Superbowl performance. Backlash came from lots of the new generation online, mostly saying that they didn’t even know who Kid Rock was until it was announced that he was the performer because he is an older generation performer. In the end, both parties got what they wanted and the chosen performer,whether it be an older generation or a new generation of performers. Despite everything both performers gave it their all.
