The Puerto Rican artist couldn’t sing at the ceremony due to his Super Bowl halftime show contract.

How Trevor Noah got Bad Bunny to perform at 2026 Grammys

The Puerto Rican artist couldn't sing at the ceremony due to his Super Bowl halftime show contract.

By Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino is a writer at *. *She has written for * *since 2025. Her work has appeared in NBC News, Vulture, GQ, and InStyle.

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February 1, 2026 11:21 p.m. ET

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Bad Bunny attends the 68th Grammy Awards. Credit:

Neilson Barnard/Getty

It's okay to bend the rules sometimes — especially if it's for the Grammys.

At least, that's the message that host Trevor Noah tried to impart onto Bad Bunny, who was unable to perform at the 2026 awards ceremony due to his Super Bowl contract. Noah came to pester the artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, into singing twice during the broadcast. The first time he asked, Bad Bunny wouldn't give in.

“Whoever's doing the Super Bowl is contractually obligated to only do the Super Bowl, so, you can't perform at the Grammys," Noah asked. "Is this true?”

“I wish, but I can't,” Bad Bunny responded.

But when the former *Daily Show* anchor came to Ocasio's table for a second time, the Puerto Rican rapper-singer found the proposition hard to resist. After Noah began singing Bad Bunny's hit "DtMF" a capella, the artist sang a couple of lines, too.

The host then brought out a salsa band to accompany their brief jam session. Noah thanked Bad Bunny for being a good sport and suggested the two perform at the Super Bowl together.

“If they sue you, that’s not [on] me,” Noah joked.

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny performs on stage during his "Debi tirar mas fotos" world tour.

Alfredo ESTRELLA / AFP via Getty

Bad Bunny will headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show on Feb. 8, despite pushback from conservatives including President Donald Trump. Other Super Bowl performers include Green Day, Charlie Puth, Brandi Carlile, and Coco Jones.

***Check out more from EW's *The Awardist*, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV, movies, and more.*****

Bad Bunny is nominated for six awards at the 2026 Grammys, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Global Music Performance, Best Música Urbana Album, and Best Album Cover. He already won the award for Best Música Urbana Album for his album *DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS*.

In a powerful acceptance speech for that award, Bad Bunny called out the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's violent raids across the country.

"ICE out," he said, pausing after the audience erupted in applause. "We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans."

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Source: “EW Grammys”