Bad Bunny brings Gaga, Martin and Puerto Rican pride to Super Bowl as Green Day, Puth play pregame
By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. and ANDREW DALTONAP Entertainment Writers
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Stars were front-and-center at Super Bowl 60, with Chris Pratt and Jon Bon Jovi introducing the teams, a series of soaring pre-game performances and Bad Bunny's much-anticipated halftime show featuruing a tour of Puerto Rican culture and a real-life marriage.
Before the game at Levi's Stadium, Blue Ivy Carter and her sister Rumi leaped in an end zone and Green Day delievered a tribute to the NFL championship game's 60th anniversary.
Brandi Carlile kept it sincere and simple for “America, the Beautiful,” Charlie Puth made “The Star-Spangled Banner” big and soulful and Coco Jones brought a bit of the elements of both to “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Bad Bunny brought Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin and a whole lot of his native Puerto Rico to his halftime show.
“God bless America!” he shouted toward the end, one of the only English phrases in the 13-minute halftime show. Then he gave a roll call of the nations of North, South and Central America, including Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, the United States and Canada.
A parade of flags from those nations marched through the sugar plantation fields that functioned as the show's centerpiece.
After the list of nations, and at the end of the show, he declared, “Mi Patria Puerto Rico, seguimos aquí," or “My homeland Puerto Rico, we are still here.”
He also brought out a parade of celebrities, including Cardi B, Jessica Alba and Pedro Pascal.
The 31-year-old began the performance in the furrows of the faux sugar cane crops, walking past unmistakable Puerto Rican imagery including farmers in straw hats, old men playing dominos and a shaved ice stand as he performed his 2022 reggaeton hit “Tití Me Preguntó.” He carried a football and wore an all-white football jersey with the number 64 and his real last name, Ocasio.
He then stood atop a tiny pink house with dancers in the front yard and performed “Yo Perreo Sola” and stood atop a pickup truck as he did “EOO.”
The scene shifted to a wedding, where the marrying couple parted to reveal Lady Gaga as the first surprise guest. She joined Bad Bunny in performing “Baile Inolvidable.” Gaga did her own Super Bowl halftime show in 2017.
The couple was actually married during the show, according to a representative for Bad Bunny, who said he served as a witness and signed their marriage certificate.
Bad Bunny then broke into his “NuevaYol” in a faux shopping center parking lot.
Ricky Martin, a Puerto Rican star from a previous generation, joined him for “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii.”
The show came a week after the 31-year-old superstar won the Grammy for album of the year for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” a love letter to his home.
The halftime show included a young boy watching the Grammy telecast on TV with his parents. Bad Bunny appeared and handed the boy a Grammy statuette.
On Truth Social, President Donald Trump called the show “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!”
San Francisco Bay Area punk-pop vets Green Day took the pre-game stage and performed a snippet of their song “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” to a parade of former Super Bowl MVPs.
Local heroes Steve Young, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were among those who walked out during the song meant to celebrate 60 years of Super Bowls.
Billie Joe Armstong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool then blasted into the harder and less sentimental stuff, including “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “American Idiot.”
Armstrong did not censor the f-word in the lyrics of “American Idiot.” The word was muted on the NBC telecast but drew loud cheers inside the stadium.
Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth delivered a sweeping and soulful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The 34-year-old from New Jersey stood at a Rhodes electric piano as he sang and was backed by a choir and horn section.
His delivery felt slow and deliberate but it took him 1 minute, 56 seconds to sing, which is slightly faster than average for a Super Bowl anthem.
Before that, Brandi Carlile gave an earnest acoustic rendition of “America, the Beautiful.”
The 44-year-old folk and country rocker wore a black suit and was backed by a violin and cello on the field at Levi Stadium.
The Grammy winner told the AP this week that she’d use no prerecorded tracks, saying “the people deserve to have you live.”
After the song Carlile, who is from Ravensdale, Washington, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) outside Seattle said she was “relieved, and so excited for the Seahawks baby let's go!”
Coco Jones, a 28-year-old singer-songwriter and actor from Columbia, South Carolina wore a white gown and was backed by a string octet as she performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a song that has become known as the unofficial Black national anthem.
“I feel really amazing, I hope that I did my ancestors proud, and I hope that I inspired the nation to come together,” Jones told the AP just after the song.
She FaceTimed with her mom on the sideline ater the performance while her fiance, Cleveland Cavaliers player Donovan Mitchell, held the phone.
Written by James Weldon Johnson, the song has been performed at the Super Bowl each year since 2021, the first Super Bowl after the protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd, when Black Lives Matter sentiment, and the song, became especially prominent.
Chris Pratt rocked a Seahawks jersey while attending the Super Bowl and gave a rousing introduction to the team before they ran out onto the field.
On the opposite side of the field, Jon Bon Jovi delivered the Patriots' intro.
Stars including Travis Scott and Jay-Z were on the sidelines ahead of the game. Jay-Z's daughters, Blue Ivy and Rumi Carter, leaped in one of the end zones to take a photo.
Among those sitting in suites watching the game were Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber and Adam Sandler.
During game breaks, Bay Area rapper LaRussell jammed alongside a choir, performing everything from rap classics such as his song “I’m From the Bay” and a rendition of Too $hort’s “Blow the Whistle,” along with gospel melodies.
LaRussell is the first artist chosen to curate the house band at the Super Bowl.
Among the commercials shown during the game was an unexpected first look at “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” a Netflix sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” with Brad Pitt reprising his stuntman character and David Fincher directing.
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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
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