Caribbean presence on the Super Bowl halftime stage did not begin in this moment. It has a history.
AYEE — Debí tirar más fotos.
I wish I took more fotos.
That’s the Bad Bunny anthem Super Bowl 2026 has the whole world lit with — decoding, applauding, talking… talking… and talking some more. Every portal buzzing. Every opinion loud. Every take racing to be first.
And then there’s the noise that always follows.
While Bad Bunny is out here lighting up the world — decoding, applause, conversation layered on conversation — DJT, in the middle of his extremely politically overstimulated life, finds the time to call the halftime un-American. That word again. Like it hasn’t been stretched, bent, and weaponized a thousand times before.
As if there was a contest, the TPUSA halftime protest didn’t even get his full attention. Imagine that. DJT was watching Bad Bunny. A defector to his tribe? (jk.)
And someone like me who does the storying, the sharing I like to slow it down. I like to give thoughts breadth.
Because the big reveal for me in the Bad Bunny Super Bowl performance lives beyond the clamor of voices.
Before Bad Bunny’s Caribbean-inspired Super Bowl halftime theatre and showmanship, there is precedence here.
A close family share — straight off a Twitter feed — invited me to look again. And there it was. Super Bowl 1979. Halftime. Caribbean highlight. Front and center. Artistes like the Barbados Merrymen. The performance was officially billed as “Carnival: A Salute to the Caribbean.”
And here — yes — this is where we drop the vintage links.
Because receipts matter.
Sources / Vintage Footage
Official Event Title & Context
Super Bowl XIII (1979) Halftime Show
Carnival: A Salute to the Caribbean
Location: Miami Orange Bowl
Date: January 21, 1979
Wikipedia — Super Bowl XIII (Halftime Show listing)
Confirms the halftime title “Carnival: A Salute to the Caribbean” and the Caribbean-themed presentation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XIII
YouTube — Super Bowl XIII Halftime Spectacular: Carnival (1979)
Broadcast-era footage capturing the Caribbean carnival presentation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqECxxSBbY4
YouTube — The Merrymen of Barbados at Super Bowl XIII Halftime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkvYsEuxAAE
These archival clips document the 1979 halftime presentation officially billed as “Carnival: A Salute to the Caribbean,” featuring Caribbean artistes — including the Barbados Merrymen — and centering carnival rhythm, movement, and collective cultural expression on America’s largest televised stage.
