In 2025, Bad Bunny was Spotify’s most-streamed artist in the world, his fourth time, including his three-year reign from 2020 to 2022. Though Taylor Swift took the top spot in 2023 and 2024 (and she is still #1 among US Spotify users), Bad Bunny’s sixth studio album Debí Tirar Más Fotos resonated with fans worldwide. The album’s global appeal helped the Puerto Rican artist rack up 19.8 billion Spotify streams last year.
Bad Bunny’s sustained success undeniably landed him the US’s biggest music gig: the Super Bowl Halftime Show. With his massive global fanbase, the 2026 halftime show is poised to draw record numbers of international audiences, creating new NFL fans in the process. In recent years, the league has been actively expanding its global footprint with new international broadcasts and overseas games.
So how is Bad Bunny’s worldwide dominance meeting the NFL’s global ambitions? And what can brands learn from it all? We used our social listening and analytics solution to dive into how Bad Bunny took over the world in 2025, and what the data reveals about the moments that drove his visibility.
Bad Bunny’s global media mentions and audience reach in 2025
Just how popular is Bad Bunny? Our social listening analysis found that in 2025 alone, there were over 12.5 million mentions across traditional, digital, and social media sources. By comparison, Kendrick Lamar, the star of the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show, generated approximately 10.5 million mentions in 2025, making Bad Bunny the more popular of the two. However, Taylor Swift drove 36.8 million, making her the queen of global buzz despite losing the Spotify crown.
Of the 12.5 million mentions of Bad Bunny in 2025, about half were in Spanish, while just over 40% were in English. This mix reflects both his majority Spanish-speaking fanbase and his popularity in English-speaking regions, including the US.
Notably, 6% of Bad Bunny mentions also mentioned Puerto Rico, his home, the subject of his latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos (or DTMF for short), and the site of his 2025 concert residency “No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí”. (Reports estimate that the sold-out series of San Juan shows generated a minimum of $176.6 million or as much as $733 million in economic benefit for the island.) Another 5% of mentions also mentioned the NFL, highlighting how much the Super Bowl Halftime Show became part of his wider narrative last year.
Bad Bunny 2025 highlights: Top moments and cultural impact
Looking at the 2025 Bad Bunny discussion over time reveals his three biggest moments of the year:
- The January 5 release of DTMF
- His May 5 Met Gala appearance and global tour announcement
- The September 28 Halftime show announcement and the conversation (and controversy) that followed
Let’s take a closer look at each one.
DTMF becomes a global hit
Bad Bunny released DTMF at the start of 2025, and by the end of the year, its staying power was clear. Along with leading top album lists and becoming one of Bad Bunny’s most successful albums to date, it was overwhelmingly received positively online. Our analysis of the social media conversation found that of more than 483,000 mentions of the album, about 27% of mentions were positive compared to about 6% negative.
Notably, the album generated a steady stream of social media conversation throughout the year, with its biggest day for mentions coming a full 11 months after release. In November, the Recording Academy announced Bad Bunny’s 2026 Grammy nominations for Best Song, Record, and Album of the Year, marking a historic first for a Spanish-speaking artist. Bringing renewed attention to DTMF, the Grammys announcement drove a 92x spike in social media mentions of the album.
Met Gala and DTMF tour announcement
In May 2025, Bad Bunny timed the release of his DTMF global tour dates with his appearance at the Met Gala, creating a buzzy cultural moment. Our analysis found that his Met Gala showing generated about 67,500 mentions and 2.04 million engagement actions. One of the most engaging posts, featuring Bad Bunny on the event carpet, came from Netflix’s X account and attracted about three million views.
Meanwhile, Bad Bunny’s tour announcement generated another 78,700 mentions and 3.3 million engagement actions. About 37% of those tour-related mentions focused on Bad Bunny’s decision to skip the US due to the potential of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting concert venues. Overall sentiment of the conversation skewed positive (+20%), though negative sentiment was notably higher in English-language posts driven largely by users disappointed about not being able to attend a show stateside. In the end, those seemingly negative statements only reinforced Bad Bunny’s popularity in the US.
Super Bowl halftime show announcement
Bad Bunny’s biggest moment of 2025 came on September 28 with the announcement that he will headline the LX Super Bowl Halftime Show in February 2026. Our analysis found that the news triggered an immediate surge in conversation, generating about 1.48 million mentions and about 58 million engagement actions from September 27 through the end of the year.
However, unlike the largely positive reception of DTMF, the Super Bowl Halftime Show announcement proved much more controversial, thanks in part to political conservatives vocally objecting to a Spanish-speaking Super Bowl headliner who is critical of the US.
Sentiment of the Super Bowl Halftime Show announcement skewed negative (31%). Notably, and most prominently, President Donald Trump called the choice “absolutely ridiculous” in an interview. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that ICE will have a strong presence at the event, reinforcing Bad Bunny’s stated fears about touring in the US.
Final Takeaways: Bad Bunny proves cultural authenticity drives global buzz
As our social listening analysis shows, Bad Bunny’s 2025 dominance underscores just how critical cultural authenticity is for brands looking to make a global impact — at least when it comes to entertainment. As we saw earlier this year with the breakout success of Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters, audiences are hungry for movies, music, and shows that engage meaningfully with the subjects at their core. In Bad Bunny’s case, his musical and visual explorations of Puerto Rico proved globally resonant thanks to universal themes of cultural identity and resilience, not to mention ultra-danceable, party playlist-friendly tunes.
Meanwhile, the reactions to his global tour and Super Bowl announcements highlight how controversy and polarizing moments can actually expand visibility and reinforce authenticity. As the Super Bowl Halftime Show approaches, one thing is clear: This event will be impossible to separate from the wider US political conversations it is situated in. For brands strategizing around the Super Bowl, using social listening is crucial to decoding how cultural relevance, timing, and sentiment intersect.
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FAQ: The Data Behind Bad Bunny’s Global Buzz
How popular was Bad Bunny globally in 2025?
Meltwater’s analysis found that Bad Bunny generated over 12.5 million mentions across social, digital, and traditional media worldwide in 2025. Roughly half of these mentions were in Spanish and just over 40% were in English, reflecting his broad international appeal.
Is Bad Bunny more popular than Taylor Swift?
No, not in terms of global conversation. According to our analysis, though Bad Bunny generated around 12.5 million mentions across traditional, digital, and social media sources in 2025, Taylor Swift drove about 36.8 million.
Why is Bad Bunny headlining the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show?
Bad Bunny’s massive international popularity supports the NFL’s global expansion goals, positioning the Super Bowl as a global cultural event rather than a solely American one. According to a Meltwater analysis, Bad Bunny generated over 12.5 million mentions across social, digital, and traditional media worldwide in 2025. Roughly half of these mentions were in Spanish, and just over 40% were in English, reflecting his broad international appeal.
What were Bad Bunny’s biggest cultural moments in 2025?
According to Meltwater, Bad Bunny’s three largest conversation spikes in 2025 were:
- The January release of Debí Tirar Más Fotos
- His May Met Gala appearance and global tour announcement
- The September announcement that he would headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show
How was Debí Tirar Más Fotos received online?
The album was largely well-received on social media, according to Meltwater data. Of more than 483,000 social media mentions, approximately 27% were positive and only about 6% were negative. Grammy nominations later in the year drove a 92x spike in online conversation, reinforcing the album’s longevity.
Why was the Super Bowl halftime show announcement controversial?
The announcement sparked political backlash, particularly from conservative commentators who objected to a Spanish-speaking, politically outspoken headliner. As a result, sentiment around the halftime show skewed negative (31%) according to Meltwater data, though the controversy significantly increased overall visibility and engagement.
Why is social listening important for brands around major cultural moments?
Social listening enables brands to track volume, sentiment, language, and cultural context in real time. As shown by Meltwater’s analysis of Bad Bunny’s tour and Super Bowl announcements, understanding audience reactions reveals insights for brands to anticipate risks, identify opportunities, and align messaging with rapidly evolving cultural conversations.
