2013–2019: Beginnings, X 100pre, and Oasis He started to write and create his own music at the age of 14. In 2016, his song "Diles" caught the attention of
DJ Luian from
SoundCloud who signed him to his record label, Hear this Music. His single "
Soy Peor", released in December 2016, reached number 19 on the
Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. In May 2017, his collaboration with
Colombian singer
Karol G, "
Ahora Me Llama", was released, reaching number 10 on the
Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. It was listed on "Alt.Latino's Favorites: The Songs of 2017" as one of the best Latin songs of 2017. Starting in November 2017, Bad Bunny hosted
Beats 1's first Spanish-language show,
Trap Kingz. The remix of "
Te Boté" with
Ozuna and
Nicky Jam reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart. In May 2018, American rapper
Cardi B released a collaboration with Bad Bunny and
J Balvin, "
I Like It", which topped the
Billboard Hot 100. On October 11, 2018, Bad Bunny released "
Mia" with
Drake, which reached number five on the
Billboard Hot 100. Bad Bunny released his debut album
X 100pre on December 24, 2018, on
Christmas Eve 2018 on the
Rimas Entertainment label. The album peaked at number 11 on the US
Billboard 200. On
Metacritic,
X 100pre received an average score of 84 based on five reviews.
Alexis Petridis of
The Guardian praised Bad Bunny's "off-kilter creativity". On June 28, 2019, Bad Bunny released
Oasis, an eight-song collaborative album with J Balvin. It peaked at number nine on the
Billboard 200 and topped the
Billboard US Latin Albums chart. In July 2019, he joined protests against Puerto Rican governor
Ricardo Rosselló in response to
Telegramgate. Bad Bunny and
Residente released "" ("Sharpening the knives") during the demonstrations.
2020–2021: YHLQMDLG, Las que no iban a salir, and El Último Tour Del Mundo In February 2020, Bad Bunny was a guest performer at the
Super Bowl LIV halftime show, headlined by
Shakira and
Jennifer Lopez. Bad Bunny announced the album
YHLQMDLG on February 27, 2020, during an appearance on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and stated that it would be released on the 2020 leap day, namely February 29. The album's title is an acronym for "" (Spanish for "I Do What I Want") and features collaborations with
Daddy Yankee,
Yaviah,
Jowell & Randy,
Ñengo Flow, among other artists.
YHLQMDLG debuted at number two on the US
Billboard 200, becoming the highest-charting all-Spanish album ever on the chart at the time. The album was met with critical acclaim, with the album's musical diversity being praised. "
Vete" was released as the lead single of the album on November 22, 2019. The second single, "
Ignorantes", with
Panamanian singer
Sech came out on February 14, 2020. "" landed number one on the
Billboard Latin Airplay chart, earning Bad Bunny his ninth number 1 on the chart in just over two years. On April 4, 2020, he released the song "" on SoundCloud, which expressed solidarity towards others in
quarantine due to
COVID-19 and featured vocals from his girlfriend, Gabriela Berlingeri. On May 10, 2020, Bad Bunny released his first compilation , without previous announcements. The compilation's title translates to "The Ones That Were Not Going to Come Out" and includes unreleased or unfinished material songs. The album features collaborations with
Don Omar,
Yandel,
Zion & Lennox,
Nicky Jam, and
Jhayco. In July 2020, he appeared on the first digital cover of
Playboy magazine as the first man to appear on the cover solo other than the magazine's founder,
Hugh Hefner. The cover was shot by photographer Stillz in
Miami, Florida, and the magazine includes a feature article entitled "Bad Bunny Is Not Playing
God." He also received the
ASCAP Latin award for Songwriter of the Year. In August, his song "" appeared in an advertisement for politician
Joe Biden's
2020 United States presidential election campaign. On September 20, 2020, Bad Bunny performed a surprise, live (via his
YouTube channel and
Uforia), free concert from atop a flatbed truck that looked like a subway car going through the streets of New York and ended at
Harlem Hospital Center. In October 2020, Bad Bunny released the single "
Dakiti", with
Jhayco, which topped the
Billboard Global 200 and reached number five on the US Hot 100. The song is included on his third studio album, , which was released on November 27, 2020, and was described as a personal and ambitious record. It became the first all-Spanish language album to reach number one on the
Billboard 200. It marked the first time a non-English language music artist topped the year-end list, with
The Guardian considering him "the world's biggest pop star" for his streaming numbers. The album received the
Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop or Urban Album at the
63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On February 20, 2021, Bad Bunny performed "" with
Rosalía and "" on
Saturday Night Live, hosted by
Regé-Jean Page, as well as appearing in the pre-recorded musical sketches "Loco" and "Sea Shanty". On the US
Billboard Hot 100, Bad Bunny's next single "
Yonaguni" became his fourth top 10 entry and first with no accompanying acts. He was also cast in
David Leitch-directed film
Bullet Train, starring
Brad Pitt. In July 2021, it was announced that Bad Bunny co-wrote and co-produced the fifth album of Puerto Rican
Latin pop artist
Tommy Torres titled
El Playlist de Anoche. Bad Bunny won the most awards at the
2021 Billboard Latin Music Awards with 10, including the category Artist of the Year. In the following months, he was featured on
Aventura's single "
Volví", and released "Lo Siento BB:/" with
Tainy and
Julieta Venegas. In September 2021, he appeared on the
Time 100,
Times annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Bad Bunny's 2022 concert tour, El Último Tour del Mundo, visited the US and Canada indoor arenas. He won
Best Urban Music Album and
Best Rap/Hip Hop Song at the
22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
El Último Tour Del Mundo won
Best Música Urbana Album at the
64th Annual Grammy Awards. In December 2021, it was announced that Bad Bunny became Spotify's
most-streamed artist of the year globally, for a second year in a row. On December 24, 2021, a short film and music video titled
Te Deseo Lo Mejor was released in collaboration with the creators of
The Simpsons. The film was directed by
David Silverman and stars
Humberto Vélez,
Claudia Motta and Bad Bunny.
2022–2023: Un Verano Sin Ti and Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana In January 2022, Bad Bunny was featured in
Vogue for the second time, modeling the current season's best bags. In April 2022,
Sony Pictures announced Bad Bunny as the lead for
El Muerto, a film set in
Sony's Spider-Man Universe. The film was originally set to be released on January 12, 2024, prior to being removed from the release schedule. On May 6, 2022, Bad Bunny released his fourth (fifth overall) studio album,
Un Verano Sin Ti, which debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 and stood there for thirteen non-consecutive weeks. The album was declared the best-performing album of the year on the
Billboard 200 year-end chart, as well as the world's best-performing album of 2022 according to
IFPI, making Bad Bunny the first Latino to have won a
IFPI Global Chart Award. It also broke the record for the most-streamed album of all time on
Spotify.
Un Verano Sin Ti became the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for the
Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Bad Bunny began his fourth concert tour
World's Hottest Tour on August 5, 2022, set to visit fourteen countries of the American continent. On October 4, 2022, the tour became
the highest-grossing tour by a Latin artist in history, earning US$232.5 million at the time. Bad Bunny received the most nominations (eight) for the 2022 American Music Awards, including his first for artist of the year. He was crowned
Artist of the Year by
Billboard in 2022. He also became the most streamed artist of the year in 2022 for the third year in a row. On May 19, 2023, Bad Bunny released his first solo single of the year titled "
Where She Goes", in which he ventured into
jersey club music. The music video had cameos from
Frank Ocean,
Lil Uzi Vert,
Ronaldinho, and others. In an interview with
Vanity Fair on September 12, 2023, Bad Bunny revealed that he is no longer involved in the upcoming
El Muerto film after its schedule removal. He also confirmed that he was working on a new album, planned for release sometime during the following fall. Bad Bunny hinted at the possibility of the upcoming project's sound, confirming that he is "playing around and enjoying myself, letting go. I'm being inspired a lot by the music of the '70s, —across genres, in both Spanish and English, but I'm not sure if this is going to shape my music, generally or just one song," After weeks of unconfirmed teasers and rumors, Bad Bunny revealed the album's title as
Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana; the album has 22 tracks and was released on October 13, 2023.
2024–present: Debí Tirar Más Fotos and Super Bowl LX halftime show On December 5, 2024, Bad Bunny released the lead single "
El Clúb", followed by the second single "
Pitorro de Coco" and the announcement of his new album
Debí Tirar Más Fotos on December 26, 2024. On January 5, 2025, he released his seventh album,
Debí Tirar Más Fotos, stating that it "recommits me to
Puerto Rico"; it contains many collaborators representing a range of Puerto Rican styles. After the release of
Debí Tirar Más Fotos, Bad Bunny announced
No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí, a 30-date residency which took place at San Juan's
José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum (also referred as "El Choli"), during July 2025–September 2025 with the first nine dates exclusively for Puerto Rico residents. The residency occurred during hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean—a period when tourism drops by 25% to 45%, and lodging prices fall by as much as 50%, according to tourism agency Discover Puerto Rico. According to a September 1
Moody's Analytics estimate, the residency was expected to draw around 600,000 attendees and have a direct economic impact of $250 million. Moody also estimated that total spending, including purchases not directly related to shows, would reach $400 million, prompting the firm to raise its 2025 economic forecast from 0.3% growth to 0.4%. On April 7, 2025,
NPR Music released Bad Bunny's
Tiny Desk Concert performance. On May 5, 2025, Bad Bunny announced
Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour, a 23-date stadium world tour, with dates in Europe, Australia, Japan, and Latin America beginning in November 2025. Bad Bunny cited concerns that the
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could harm fans at his concerts as additional reasoning for not doing a 2025 US tour (though he said this was not out of spite toward the United States). On July 14, Bad Bunny released the single "Alambre Púa", with the track's title stylized in the same manner as songs from
Debí Tirar Más Fotos. On September 28, 2025, it was announced that he would headline the
Super Bowl LX halftime show on February 8, 2026, making him the first solo Latino artist to do so. In a statement released by the
NFL on September 28, he said, "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." The decision to have Bad Bunny headline the performance spurred controversy, with U.S. president
Donald Trump calling the choice "absolutely ridiculous", with others, including show producer
Jay-Z and
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell supporting the choice. Bad Bunny's halftime show was the first to be performed in majority Spanish. His halftime performance ranked as the fourth most-watched Super Bowl halftime show with an average of 128.2 million viewers. Following the halftime performance, Bad Bunny received a massive Billboard chart bump. He had four songs from the set re-enter the Billboard Hot 100, with quasi-title track “DtMF” re-entering the top 10. == Artistry ==