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By Soo Kim
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The Super Bowl has grown from a simple championship game into one of the most significant cultural events in the United States, with the halftime show standing as its glitziest centerpiece.
This year’s headline act of the halftime show is Grammy Award‑winning artist Bad Bunny, who earned nominations in major categories in 2026. including Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Album of the Year, and took home the 2026 Grammy Award for Best Música Urbana Album.
Bad Bunny, whose name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was born in 1994 in Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory. While he was born outside mainland U.S., Puerto Ricans have been granted citizenship since the passage of the Jones‑Shafroth Act in March 2017, which guarantees U.S. citizenship to those born on or after April 25, 1898. This year marks Bad Bunny’s first time headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, though he previously appeared alongside Shakira during her 2020 set.
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Latin artists have long been part of the Super Bowl’s musical history. Shakira, from Colombia, co‑headlined the 2020 halftime show with Jennifer Lopez, who was born in New York and is of Puerto Rican heritage. Their appearance marked the first time two Latina women led the event. Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias also joined the 2000 halftime show, performing alongside Christina Aguilera, another American artist with Latin heritage.
Since the first game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967, the halftime spectacle has evolved from marching‑band performances into a global stage that draws some of the world’s biggest superstars.
As the halftime show shifted toward major pop acts in the early 1990s—with New Kids on the Block ushering in the new era in 1991, followed by Gloria Estefan in 1992 and Michael Jackson in 1993—the door opened for international performers to take the stage.
Over the years, several globally recognized non‑U.S. artists have headlined or appeared in both halftime and pregame shows, reflecting the event’s increasingly international reach. These artists represent a wide array of genres and backgrounds, highlighting how the Super Bowl halftime show has transformed into a global platform.
Non-U.S. Artists Who Have Performed at the Super Bowl
- Phil Collins (United Kingdom) — 2000 Super Bowl XXXIV Halftime Show
- Enrique Iglesias (Spain) — 2000 Super Bowl XXXIV Halftime Show
- U2 (Ireland) — 2002 Super Bowl XXXVI Halftime Show
- Shania Twain (Canada) — 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII Halftime Show
- Sting (U.K.) — 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII Halftime Show
- Celine Dion (Canada) — 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII Pregame Kickoff Show
- Paul McCartney (U.K.) — 2005 Super Bowl XXXIX Halftime Show
- The Rolling Stones (U.K.) — 2006 Super Bowl XL Halftime Show
- The Who (U.K.) — 2010 Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show
- Coldplay (U.K.) — 2016 Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show
- Shakira (Colombia) — 2020 Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show
- The Weeknd (Canada) — 2021 Super Bowl LV Halftime Show
- Rihanna (Barbados) — 2023 Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show
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