Bad Bunny brings Gaga, Martin and Puerto Rican pride to Super Bowl as Green Day, Puth play pregame

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Stars have been front-and-center at Super Bowl 60, with Chris Pratt and Jon Bon Jovi introducing the teams, a series of soaring pre-game performances and a much-anticipated halftime show from Bad Bunny.

Highlights from Levi's Stadium include Blue Ivy Carter leaping in an end zone before the game and Green Day delivering a tribute to the NFL championship game's 60th anniversary.

Brandi Carlile kept it sincere and simple for “America, the Beautiful,” Charlie Puth made “The Star-Spangled Banner” big and soulful and Coco Jones brought a bit of the elements of both to “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Bad Bunny brought some special guests and the sounds and scenery of Puerto Rico to his part.

Bad Bunny brought Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin and a whole lot of his native Puerto Rico to his halftime show.

“God bless America!” he shouted toward the end, one of the only English phrases in the 13-minute halftime show. Then he gave a roll call of the nations of North, South and Central America, including Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, the United States and Canada.

A parade of flags from those nations marched through the sugar plantation fields that functioned as the show's centerpiece.

After the list of nations, and at the end of the show, he declared, “Mi Patria Puerto Rico, seguimos aquí," or “My homeland Puerto Rico, we are still here.”

He also brought out a parade of celebrities, including Cardi B, Jessica Alba and Pedro Pascal.

The 31-year-old began the performance in the furrows of the faux sugar cane crops, walking past unmistakable Puerto Rican imagery including farmers in straw hats, old men playing dominos and a shaved ice stand as he performed his 2022 reggaeton hit “Tití Me Preguntó.” He carried a football and wore an all-white football jersey with the number 64 and his real last name, Ocasio.

He then stood atop a tiny pink house with dancers in the front yard and performed “Yo Perreo Sola” and stood atop a pickup truck as he did “EOO.”

The scene shifted to a wedding, where the seemingly marrying couple parted to reveal Lady Gaga as the first surprise guest. She joined Bad Bunny in performing “Baile Inolvidable.” Gaga did her own Super Bowl halftime show in 2017.

Bad Bunny then broke into his “NuevaYol” in a faux shopping center parking lot.

Ricky Martin, a Puerto Rican star from a previous generation, joined him for “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii.”

The show came a week after the 31-year-old superstar won the Grammy for album of the year for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” a love letter to his home.

The halftime show included a young boy watching the Grammy telecast on TV with his parents. Bad Bunny appeared and handed the boy a Grammy statuette.

On Truth Social, President Donald Trump called the show “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!”

San Francisco Bay Area punk-pop vets Green Day took the pre-game stage and performed a snippet of their song “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” to a parade of former Super Bowl MVPs.

Local heroes Steve Young, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were among those who walked out during the song meant to celebrate 60 years of Super Bowls.

Billie Joe Armstong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool then blasted into the harder and less sentimental stuff, including “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “American Idiot.”

Armstrong did not censor the f-word in the lyrics of “American Idiot.” The word was muted on the NBC telecast but drew loud cheers inside the stadium.

Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth delivered a sweeping and soulful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The 34-year-old from New Jersey stood at a Rhodes electric piano as he sang and was backed by a choir and horn section.

His delivery felt slow and deliberate but it took him 1 minute, 56 seconds to sing, which is slightly faster than average for a Super Bowl anthem.

Before that, Brandi Carlile gave an earnest acoustic rendition of “America, the Beautiful.”

The 44-year-old folk and country rocker wore a black suit and was backed by a violin and cello on the field at Levi Stadium.

The Grammy winner told the AP this week that she’d use no prerecorded tracks, saying “the people deserve to have you live.”

After the song Carlile, who is from Ravensdale, Washington, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) outside Seattle said she was “relieved, and so excited for the Seahawks baby let's go!”

Coco Jones, a 28-year-old singer-songwriter and actor from Columbia, South Carolina wore a white gown and was backed by a string octet as she performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a song that has become known as the unofficial Black national anthem.

“I feel really amazing, I hope that I did my ancestors proud, and I hope that I inspired the nation to come together,” Jones told the AP just after the song.

She FaceTimed with her mom on the sideline ater the performance while her fiance, Cleveland Cavaliers player Donovan Mitchell, held the phone.

Written by James Weldon Johnson, the song has been performed at the Super Bowl each year since 2021, the first Super Bowl after the protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd, when Black Lives Matter sentiment, and the song, became especially prominent.

Chris Pratt rocked a Seahawks jersey while attending the Super Bowl and gave a rousing introduction to the team before they ran out onto the field.

On the opposite side of the field, Jon Bon Jovi delivered the Patriots' intro.

Stars including Travis Scott and Jay-Z were on the sidelines ahead of the game. Jay-Z's daughters, Blue Ivy and Rumi Carter, leaped in one of the end zones to take a photo.

Among those sitting in suites watching the game were Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber and Adam Sandler.

During game breaks, Bay Area rapper LaRussell is jamming alongside a choir, performing everything from rap classics such as his song “I’m From the Bay” and a rendition of Too $hort’s “Blow the Whistle,” along with gospel melodies.

LaRussell is the first artist chosen to curate the house band at the Super Bowl.

Among the commercials shown during the game was an unexpected first look at “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” a Netflix sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” with Brad Pitt reprising his stuntman character and David Fincher directing.

Dalton reported from Los Angeles.

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga perform during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Brandi Carlile performs "America the Beautiful" before the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Doug Benc)

Charlie Puth performs the national anthem before the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs before the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Blue Ivy Carter poses for photos in the end zone before the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Grammy Award-winner Coco Jones performs "Lift Every Voice and Sing" during pregame festivities for Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — In the two weeks since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump increasingly has been knocked on his political heels.

He's grown more agitated with news coverage and has failed to find a way to explain why he started the war — or how he will end it — that resonates with a public concerned by American deaths in the conflict, surging oil prices and dropping financial markets. Even some of his supporters are questioning his plan and his overall poll numbers are declining.

Meanwhile, Moscow is getting a boost from the war's early days after Trump eased sanctions on some Russian oil shipments. That, combined with rising oil prices, undercut the yearslong push to crimp President Vladimir Putin's ability to wage war in Ukraine.

Then there are Democrats, who were left reeling after Trump won the 2024 election. With control of Congress at stake in November's midterms, the party has come together to oppose Trump's Iran policy and point to the economic turmoil as proof that Republicans haven't kept their promises to bring down everyday costs.

“I think Democrats are well-positioned for this November and the midterms,” said Kelly Dietrich, CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee, which trains party backers to run for office and staff campaigns.

Dietrich said the past two weeks show the Trump administration has failed at long-term planning. “They're flying by the seat of their pants, and rest of us are paying the price,” he said.

On Saturday, Trump spent hours at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, before attending a closed-door fundraiser for his MAGA Inc. super PAC at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Last weekend, he also golfed at another of his South Florida properties a day after witnessing the dignified transfer for six U.S. soldiers killed in the Iran war. That death toll rose this past week.

Trump is increasingly complaining about media coverage of the conflict, on Saturday writing: “Media actually want us to lose the War.” His broadcast regulator subsequently threatened to pull broadcast licenses unless they “correct course.”

The president — who kept allies other than Israel in the dark about his war plans for Iran — also for the first time suggested the U.S. would need to lean on the international community to help oil tankers move through the Strait of Hormuz, where transportation has been severely disrupted, throwing global energy markets into a tailspin.

Iran has said it plans to keep up attacks on energy infrastructure and use its effective closure of the strait as leverage against the United States and Israel. A fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway.

“Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump wrote on Saturday, later adding, “this should have always been a team effort.”

It was not clear if that multination push was set to begin or if Trump only hoped it might, however. That's because he also wrote: “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected” will “send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer” be threatened by Iran.

The White House has not provided further details on what Trump's post meant but other countries have reacted to it cautiously. South Korea plans to “closely coordinate and carefully review” Trump's comments, while Japan is closely watching developments. Britain’s defense ministry said it was "discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region”

Trump had pledged at the beginning of the war that U.S. naval ships would escort tankers through the waterway. But that hasn’t happened yet. “It’ll happen soon. Very soon,” he insisted while boarding Air Force One to fly to Florida on Friday night.

Still, questions about the strait continue to undermine Trump's recent pronouncement during a Kentucky rally that, “We’ve won.”

“You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won,” he said. “We won the, in the first hour, it was over.”

The U.S. Treasury Department also announced this past week a 30-day waiver on Russian sanctions aiming to free up Russian oil cargoes stranded at sea to help ease supply shortages caused by the Iran war.

That's despite analysts saying that spiraling oil prices due to Persian Gulf production blockages are benefiting the Russian economy. Moscow relies heavily on oil revenue to finance its war on Ukraine, and sanctions were a growing handicap.

Some of Washington's key allies have decried the move as empowering Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called easing sanctions “not the right decision” and “certainly does not help peace” because it leads to a “strengthening of Russia’s position.”

With midterm races now starting to heat up, Trump was asked Friday night about his message to voters who believe gas is too expensive.

“You’re going to see a very big decrease in the prices of gasoline, gas, anything having to do with energy, as soon as this is ended,” Trump said.

Still, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday of higher energy prices: “Americans are feeling it right now" and would "for a few more weeks.”

The longer the conflict goes, the more pronounced questions about the midterms will become. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, suggested on Fox News Channel this past week that if gas and oil prices continue to stay high “you’re going to see a disastrous election” for the GOP.

Iran also has even divided Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base, between those who support the action and others who say that Trump expressly campaigned on ending wars.

Leading figures on the right, including Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, have sharply criticized Trump. Trump, though, has continued to insist that he created the MAGA movement and that it will follow him anywhere, on any issue.

The political turbulence has some Democrats predicting their party could see midterm gains rivaling 2018’s “blue wave” election during Trump’s first term.

“Democrats just have to keep reminding people that he made a promise to bring prices down, and they’re still going up,” Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said of Trump. “And now they’re going to go up even more because prices in gasoline can increase prices of everything else, including at the grocery store.”

President Donald Trump's limousine arrives at the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

FILE - A person fuels up a vehicle at a gas station, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

An Army carry team moves a flag-draped transfer case with the remains of Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, who was killed in a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, past President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump during a casualty return, Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before he boards Air Force One, Friday, March 13, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., for a trip to Florida. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)