Super Bowl LX will make history during halftime this year as Bad Bunny’s performance will be a first of its kind. He will be the first solo Latino performer to headline a Super Bowl halftime show with music that is mostly in Spanish, not English.

And while this fact had many White Americans who have only ever spoken one language all their lives clutching their pearls and shouting criticisms at the NFL for choosing a “non-American” to perform at the Super Bowl, turns out Bad Bunny actually is American, both technically and legally.

Bad Bunny’s Puerto Rican pride

Bad Bunny’s real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and he was born on March 10, 1994, in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory in the Caribbean. People born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens by birth, and that includes Bad Bunny. So even though he’s widely perceived as a Latin artist with global reach, he is legally American.

Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory means its residents have citizenship but do not vote in presidential elections unless they reside in a U.S. state. Nonetheless, Bad Bunny’s citizenship isn’t in question. He is a U.S. citizen, just one whose cultural identity is deeply tied to Puerto Rico.

Why does Bad Bunny sing mostly in Spanish?

Bad Bunny performs almost exclusively in Spanish, and for very personal, cultural reasons. In interviews, he’s been clear that he doesn’t plan to change his language for commercial reasons. In a widely reported 2025 interview about language and his artistry, Bad Bunny stated:

“I’m never going to [sing in English] just because someone says I need to do it to reach a certain audience.”He added that he feels more comfortable thinking, feeling, and singing in Spanish and that performing in his own language is integral to his identity and authenticity as an artist.

It’s important to note that he hasn’t ruled out English outright. He’s acknowledged that he could sing in English someday if the song and collaboration made sense, but he’s chosen not to tailor his music to English-speaking audiences simply for mass appeal.

Bad Bunny’s language choices reflect his roots and his global impact. He’s built his career embracing reggaeton, Latin trap, and other Spanish-language frameworks rather than trying to crossover into English pop trends. That decision has paid off on a global scale. His latest studio album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, not only dominated streaming worldwide but also won Album of the Year at the 2026 Grammys, the first Spanish-language album to do so.

That success, including commanding the Super Bowl stage without leaning on English, has been celebrated as a sign of how global music tastes are evolving, even as some critics have framed his language choice as controversial.

Bad Bunny’s stance is about identity. For him and many fans, singing in Spanish, especially on stages like the Grammys and the Super Bowl, isn’t a barrier but a statement that the biggest platforms in entertainment no longer require English to be “American” or to resonate with massive audiences.

Whether fans understand every word or not, Bad Bunny’s performance is being watched around the world, and he’s doing it in his own language, on his own terms. And though he may have joked that you had four months to learn Spanish, he really only requires that you dance and have fun.

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