Bad Bunny is the biggest pop star in the world right now, but until he was announced as the headline act at the 2026 NFL Super Bowl earlier this week, most Australians had probably never heard of him. So, who is Bad Bunny? And why all the fuss?

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, AKA Bad Bunny

A recent New Yorker profile called Bad Bunny 'the most important musician of our time'. His decision not to tour the U.S. but instead hold a summer residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is estimated to have had about about US$250 million impact on the island's economy. The September 20 finale was Amazon's most streamed live music show ever. He'll be playing the 2026 NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show.

He's wrestled in the WWE. He's the new face of Calvin Klein. He's dated a Kardashian and lived to tell the tale. And he's only 31 years old.

With his distinctive baritone voice and heavy Puerto Rican accent, singer and rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, started out appearing on trap and reggaeton singles in 2016, having his first major hit with 'Diles' ('Tell Them') in along with Ozuna, Farruko, and other up-and-coming urban artists at the time. His first album, X100PRE (pronounced 'Por Siempre' – 'Forever') arrived in 2018. 2019 brought the collaborative album Oasis, including one of Bad Bunny's biggest hits, 'La Canción' ('The Song').

A Superstar is Born

With the release of his two 2020 albums,  El Último Tour del Mundo ('The Last World Tour') and YHLQMDLG (Yo hago lo que me da la gana – 'I do whatever I want'), as well as the sprawling 2022 album Un Verano Sin Ti ('A Summer Without You') he became the most streamed artist in the world on Spotify three years in a row, in 2020, 2021, and 2022 – the only musician to ever achieve the feat in three consecutive years. Bad Bunny isn't just the hottest Latin artist in the world right now – he has a strong case as the biggest pop star in the world in any language (sorry, Swifties).

Artistic Maturity

In recent years, Bad Bunny's music has become increasingly sophisticated, incorporating a spectacular range of influences and sounds without ever abandoning its party pop roots. His magnum opus, DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS ('I Should Have Taken More Photos'), released at the beginning of 2025, draws on trap and reggaeton but also dembow, bomba, plena, and salsa music to create a spectacular musical homage to his homeland of Puerto Rico. The album is full of Puerto Rican identity, from the deep nostalgia of the island's diaspora (such as on the title track), to the political protest of 'Lo Que Le Pasó A Hawaii' ('What Happened To Hawaii') as well as old fashioned party bangers like 'Voy A Llevarte Pa PR' ('I'm Gonna Take You To PR'), and much more. The dembow bassline dropping over the salsa sample on the first track, 'Nuevayol' ('New York' as pronounced in a Puerto Rican accent), seems destined to become one of the most iconic moments in pop music history.

'¿Cómo Bad Bunny va a ser rey del pop? ¡Ey! / ¡Con reguetón y dembow!' ('How will Bad Bunny be the king of pop? / With reggaeton and dembow!').

¿Qué más?

Bad Bunny is more than a musician. He's a cultural phenomenon unto himself, far beyond anything reggaeton has known in the past. The podcast Switched On Pop dedicated an episode to understanding the Puerto Rican cultural references in DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS (in English) and the Spanish newspaper El País did the same (in Spanish). Perhaps the most impressive thing is that there is virtually no crossover between the two conversations – there's too much to talk about. One lexicographer even published a special dictionary, El ABC de DtMF, for deciphering Bad Bunny's Puerto Rican Spanish.