Days before the biggest night in sports and music, Apple Music gathered artists, journalists, and interpreters for a powerful press conference centered on representation, heritage, and the universal language of sound. One of the interpreters opened the event with a statement that set the tone for the day: “My family tells me, ‘You are Puerto Rican, you are no more or no less, but Puerto Rican.’”
The interpreters were introduced as cultural storytellers tasked with translating music through rhythm, movement, and identity, drawing an emotional response from the room and earning a standing ovation during a brief moment of silence meant to honor the artists who make performances accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences.
The program then shifted to conversations led by Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, who sat down with Charlie Puth, Coco Jones, and Brandi Carlile to discuss their upcoming pregame rendition of “America the Beautiful,” a tradition that has only been part of the event for the past five years. Each artist spoke with palpable excitement about Sunday’s performance. Puth shared, “I want them to feel inspired. It can color every aspect of your day so vividly,” while Jones reflected on the cultural weight of the moment: “Being able to have this light on the culture is a moment in itself. I’m just a vessel that is able to represent what this means, thinking about younger me, the youth, and the women that came before me, and what they needed to see to make it all worth it.”
The energy escalated when Bad Bunny made his entrance, stepping onstage in a gray suit layered with a long jacket and a playful pussycat hoodie. Apple Music unveiled a halftime trailer alongside a sweeping video retrospective tracing his rise from 2016 to today, underscoring his evolution into a global phenomenon. When asked about potential surprise guests, the superstar teased the crowd with a grin: “You know that’s something that I’m not going to say… I’m going to bring a lot of guests. My family, all the people who supported me throughout the years. There is a lot of people who love me around the world.” He added that fame was never the goal. “I wasn’t looking for awards, I was just looking to connect with my culture, with my history, and I did it in such an honest way. You always have to be proud of who you are, your history, but also don’t limit yourself.”
During the discussion, Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, also grew emotional while speaking about his mother, Lysaurie Ocasio, a retired schoolteacher from Puerto Rico who raised him in the Almirante Sur barrio of Vega Baja and believed in him long before the rest of the world knew his name. The moment added another layer of intimacy to an afternoon already rich with reflection and anticipation.
Follow Apple Music and tune in live for the pre-show conversation, then stream the halftime performance afterward—and keep it locked here for full coverage, reactions, and behind-the-scenes highlights from music’s biggest stage.
