On February 8th, 2026, Super Bowl LX captured audiences with the Apple Music Halftime Show held at Levi Stadium featuring Bad Bunny and several performers like Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin who made cameos in the high-energy performance.
Meanwhile, on the same day at the exact time as Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show, performer Kid Rock sang at Turning Point USA’s “All American Halftime show”.
First, let’s talk about Bad Bunny’s performance. It was incredibly well performed. It was almost entirely sung in Spanish, but near the end of his performance, he said ”God bless America”. In the background, people behind him held flags from North, Central, and South America with the US flag, and Puerto Rican flags being the most prominent.
The entire performance was about saying, “hey, I’m part of America too!” Another prominent feature in the performance was the phrase “the only thing more powerful than hate is love”, displayed prominently on the scoreboard in the stadium.
Overall, it was about bringing people together, and accepting one another for who they are, no matter the color of their skin, or the language they speak.
Next, we move on to Kid Rock. This performance was significantly worse to say the least. While it was about things like American culture, faith, and freedom, it felt like it was meant to send a message about how supporters didn’t want to watch a Spanish-speaking person sing at the Super Bowl. It was basically a show created as a response to critics who claimed that Bad Bunny wasn’t American enough to play at the Super Bowl.
During the performance, many observed that Kid Rock very obviously lip synced to the song “Bawitdaba” with several clips circling social media showing him putting down the microphone while the lyrics still played in the background. According to USA Today, Kid Rock tried to defend himself by saying “So, it was just a syncing issue that they had, and I know they tried to get it right. It was very difficult.”
Overall, it was clear from the 142 million viewers who tuned in to watch Bad Bunny’s performance that a message of American unity still resonated with the people more than its alternative counterpart.
As country singer Kacey Musgraves said, “Well. That made me feel more proudly American than anything Kid Rock has ever done.”
