Bad Bunny Ahead of Super Bowl: ‘I’m Just a Normal Guy That Makes Music’

Bad Bunny is focused less on spectacle and more on feeling as he prepares to headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.

In a new interview with Access Hollywood’s Scott Evans, the global superstar, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, opened up about the mindset behind his highly anticipated halftime performance, reflecting on his journey from bagging groceries to one of the biggest stages in the world.

“I just want to be there,” Bad Bunny said when asked how he’s feeling in the final days before the show. “I’m just ready to do it. I want to feel it. I want people to watch it and enjoy it.”

Selecting the setlist for the halftime performance proved to be one of the biggest challenges. “That was tough,” he admitted. “Even for my shows on tour, it’s hard to pick 30 or 40 songs. So imagine for 30 minutes. It was very hard. The selection process was very intense.”

Rather than focusing on hits alone, Bad Bunny said he approached the show as a storytelling exercise. “I had a vision about the story, the mood, and the feelings that I want to put on that show,” he explained. “I want people to feel happiness and joy. I want to make people dance. I want to make them feel proud and think that everything is possible.”

The interview also revisited where Bad Bunny was just a decade ago. In 2016, he was working at a grocery store while making beats on the side — a reality he says still shapes his perspective.

“That’s true. I was working in a grocery store, making beats at the same time,” he said. “Broke, with a lot of dreams and goals. And now I’m still dreaming. I’m still enjoying this. I’m still doing this with the same passion and the same love as the first day, before I got popular or successful.”

When the call came confirming he would headline the Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny said he was at the gym — and didn’t tell anyone right away. “Nobody,” he said when asked who he called first. “Not even my mom and dad. I always keep everything secret until I know it’s official.”

Fresh off the 2026 Grammy Awards, where he added three more trophies to his career total, Bad Bunny also shared a moment with Lady Gaga that stuck with him. “She said, ‘I love you,’” he recalled. “And I was like, ‘I love you too.’ I always get very emotional when I see her. I admire her a lot.”

As for what he hopes audiences take away once his time on stage ends, Bad Bunny kept it simple. “That I’m an honest artist. That I’m myself. That I don’t act to be anything that I’m not,” he said. “That I’m proud of who I am and where I come from. The music is universal. You can connect heart to heart with a song, even without lyrics.”

He added: “I’m just a normal guy that makes music.”

Bad Bunny will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show on Sunday, Feb. 8, during Super Bowl LX, airing on NBC and Peacock.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.