Sorry, Swifties – it’ll be Bad Bunny, not Bad Blood, at next year’s Super Bowl

Sorry, Swifties, but you won’t see Bad Blood at the Super Bowl next year. Instead, you’ll see Bad Bunny.

The Puerto Rican singer and rapper, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was confirmed on Monday as the headliner for the NFL’s game of games at California’s Levi’s Stadium on February 8, crushing rumours that pop juggernaut Taylor Swift could take the field.

“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bunny said in a statement obtained by Billboard. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards, so I could come in and score a touchdown … this is for my people, my culture and our history. [In Spanish] Go tell your grandma we’re going to be the Super Bowl Halftime Show.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell this month said on the US Today show that he would “always love to have Taylor [Swift] play” at the halftime show.

“She is a special, special talent and obviously, she would be welcome at any time,” he said.

This, of course, got Swifties riled up about a possible Super Bowl-Swift moment, something that appeared even more possible following the singer’s engagement to Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce in August.

Fans also believed the pop star dropped clues on Kelce’s New Heights podcast last month. Though most attention was on the announcement of her upcoming album The Life of a Showgirl, some noted Swift’s random reference to the number 47. Her 47th Eras Tour stop was at Levi’s Stadium, which is where the next Super Bowl will be held.

However, Super Bowl performers have historically not been paid beyond a small, union-mandated rate, instead performing simply for the exposure. Some have speculated whether Swift, the biggest pop star in the world, decided she didn’t need the exposure and desired a rate that better reflected her value. Notably, Swift and her team have not commented on the matter.

There were also rumours that either British singer Adele (whose fiance Rich Paul is a big-time US sports agent) or Miley Cyrus could perform. Adele reportedly passed on the halftime show offer several years ago.

Shortly before the headliner was confirmed, Bunny wrote on X that he planned to do just one show in the United States – a country he previously said he wouldn’t perform in partly due to concerns over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids – for his Debi Tirar Mas Fotos world tour, which kicks off in December.

“I’ve been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States,” he wrote in Spanish. Soon after, the NFL and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation confirmed the headliner.

The Grammy-winning Latin trap artist has been on a hot streak recently, having completed his Puerto Rico residency that drew more than 500,000 fans. At just 31, he has already won three Grammys and 12 Latin Grammys, and has starred in popular films such as Bullet Train, Happy Gilmore 2 and Caught Stealing. Some may also know him as Saturday Night Live’s go-to Shrek impersonator.

He’ll follow rapper Kendrick Lamar, whose Drake diss-infused performance at this year’s Super Bowl claimed 133.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched halftime show ever.

The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show will take place on February 8, 2026 (US time) at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.