When Bad Bunny closed the final curtain on his No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí residency in San Juan last month, the island didn’t just witness a concert series — it lived through a movement. Thirty-one nights, all sold out. Three hours of music, visuals, and raw emotion each night. And a whole country vibrating to the rhythm of a man who refuses to play by anyone’s rules but his own.
Music journalist Enrique Martín Baca Arbulu, who covered the entire residency up close, calls it “the most important musical event in the history of Puerto Rico.” And he’s not exaggerating. “This was more than music,” he says. “It was an act of identity, a declaration of love for the island — and an economic miracle.”
From July to September 2025, San Juan became the epicenter of global pop. Over 200,000 foreign fans traveled to Puerto Rico to see the show live. Ticket lines wrapped around city blocks. People camped out with folding chairs and portable stoves just for a chance to breathe the same air as Bad Bunny. Within hours of going on sale, 400,000 tickets vanished.
The numbers still sound unreal: between 186 and 250 million dollars in direct economic impact, with broader estimates pushing past 700 million once tourism and local business growth are included. Hotels and rentals sold out weeks in advance. The Coliseo José Miguel Agrelot broke its all-time annual revenue record in less than nine weeks.
Inside the arena, every detail screamed Puerto Rico. The stage was built around a pink house with a porch and a garage — a typical home from the island’s neighborhoods. Flamboyán trees glowed under neon lights. Between songs, Bad Bunny danced barefoot, laughed with his fans, and sometimes just stood still to take it all in. “It was like watching someone perform inside his own soul,” says Baca Arbulu.
Each show was unique. Some nights he brought out Zion & Lennox, others featured pleneros, folk musicians, and unexpected guests from Marc Anthony to Lin-Manuel Miranda. Celebrities from LeBron James to Penélope Cruz filled the VIP seats. The grand finale, broadcast worldwide, shattered Amazon Music’s streaming records with more than 11 million viewers tuning in live.
So where do you go after rewriting the rulebook for live music? If you’re Bad Bunny, the answer is simple: you aim for the biggest stage on Earth.
On February 8, 2026, the Puerto Rican superstar will headline the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. It’s his first time as the main act, though he stole headlines back in 2020 when he appeared alongside Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. Now, the spotlight is entirely his.
For Baca Arbulu, it’s a natural next step. “After turning Puerto Rico into the world’s stage,” he says, “the Super Bowl is just the next logical stop. And he’s going to take that same energy — that sense of pride and belonging — and explode it across the globe.”
Industry insiders expect a performance that’s bilingual, bold, and unapologetically Latin. Rumors swirl about high-profile guests and ambitious stage design, but if his residency taught us anything, it’s that Bad Bunny doesn’t need gimmicks to make history. He creates atmosphere. He builds worlds.
The stakes are massive. The Super Bowl halftime slot draws an audience north of 100 million people. Following Kendrick Lamar’s widely acclaimed 2025 show, expectations couldn’t be higher. Yet Bad Bunny’s biggest challenge won’t be living up to anyone else — it’ll be staying true to himself while the entire planet watches.
“Benito doesn’t chase approval,” Baca Arbulu says. “He’s not adapting his culture for others. He’s inviting the world into it. That’s what makes him different — and that’s why this Super Bowl could be a turning point for Latin music.”
If his Puerto Rico residency was about coming home, the Super Bowl will be about taking that home to the world. One stage, one language, one message: the future of pop doesn’t need translation.