- - Ricky Martin Praises Bad Bunny Ahead of Super Bowl LX Halftime Show: 'You Won by Staying True to Puerto Rico'

Jack IrvinFebruary 4, 2026 at 4:12 AM

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Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin in March 2023

Michael Kovac/Getty

Ricky Martin wrote about Bad Bunny's success in an open letter for the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día on Tuesday, Feb. 3

"Benito, brother, seeing you win three Grammy Awards, one of them for album of the year with a production entirely in Spanish, touched me deeply," wrote Martin

Bad Bunny will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 8

Ricky Martin is singing Bad Bunny's praises!

After the "DTMF" rapper, 31, won three Grammy Awards including Album of the Year over the weekend, Martin, 54, wrote about Bad Bunny's success in an open letter titled "When One of Ours Succeeds, We All Succeed" for the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

"Benito, brother, seeing you win three Grammy Awards, one of them for album of the year with a production entirely in Spanish, touched me deeply. Not only as an artist, but as a Puerto Rican who has walked stages around the world carrying his language, his accent, and his story," began Martin's letter, originally written in Spanish.

Ricky Martin in Hollywood in January 2026

Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

The "Livin' La Vida Loca" singer reflected, "I know what it means to succeed without letting go of where you come from. I know how heavy it is, what it costs, and what is sacrificed when you decide not to change because others ask you to. That’s why what you have achieved is not just a historic musical accomplishment, it’s a cultural and human victory."

"You won without changing the color of your voice. You won without erasing your roots," added Martin. "You won by staying true to Puerto Rico."

At the 2026 Grammys, Bad Bunny won Best Global Musical Performance for "EoO" as well as Best Música Urbana Album and Album of the Year for his latest body of work, Debí Tirar Más Fotos. His AOTY win marked the first time the award went to an album performed entirely in Spanish.

Martin praised Bad Bunny for opting not to "soften the Spanish or hide the identity" and spoke about how it felt to watch him win at the Grammys.

"What touched me most about seeing you there on the Grammy stage was the silence of the entire audience when you spoke," he wrote. "When you defended the immigrant community, when you pointed out a system that persecutes and separates, you spoke from a place I know very well, that place where fear and hope coexist, where millions live between languages, borders, and deferred dreams."

Bad Bunny dedicated his AOTY win "to all the people that had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams" in his acceptance speech. He also thanked all the Latinos in the world.

Martin said in his letter, "This achievement is for a generation to whom you taught that their identity is non-negotiable and that success is not at odds with authenticity."

He concluded, "From the heart, from one Boricua to another, with respect and love, I thank you for reminding us that when one of ours succeeds, we all succeed."

Bad Bunny at the Grammys in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2026

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

The two artists have crossed paths in the past. They performed together at the 2019 Latin Grammy Awards, and Martin presented Bad Bunny with the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 2023.

Bad Bunny will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 8. "What I'm feeling goes beyond myself," he said in a statement when the performance was announced in September 2025.

"It's for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history," continued Bad Bunny at the time. "Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL."

The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will face off at the big game. Pre-show performers will include Green Day, Charlie Puth, Coco Jones and Brandi Carlile.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”