Music
His "life is like Verstappen in F1." 10 Fun Facts About Bad Bunny
From a grocery store clerk to the biggest star in the world. And that in 10 years. Here are some interesting facts about today's hottest name no on the music scene: Bad Bunny.
Bad Bunny
His real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. He was born on March 10, 1994 in Bayamón and raised in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. When he was a child, he was dressed as a rabbit by his parents, a fact memorialized in a photo that Benito would return to a dozen years later. "I was standing in it, in that rabbit disguise, but with a very irritated face. When I saw myself, I decided that's what I had to call myself: Bad Bunny (Bad Rabbit). I knew it would sell well," he later recalled in an interview.
Bad Bunny with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez
© Mark Thompson / Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
4/6
Bad Bunny's global popularity can be measured in various ways. One is the statistics of the streaming service Spotify, where Bad Bunny has already been named the most listened to artist of the year four times since 2020. Worldwide. Specifically, in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2025. The other two vintages belonged to Taylor Swift.
His "life is like Verstappen in F1."
"I love sports, but I'm not good at them myself," Bad Bunny once said when asked about his sports fascinations. And he has many of them. Among other things, he is a big fan of the WWE and wrestling, which he gave evidence of when he performed at wrestling events or recorded the number "Chambea," the clip for which featured wrestler Ric Flair. To his credit, there are also several tracks inspired by Formula One racers and races. In the track "Andrea" from the album "Un Verano Sin Ti" (2022), Bad Bunny raps: "Life goes on like Verstappen in F1." For which the successful Oracle Red Bull Racing racer thanked him, by the way, placing Bunny's album cover on the rear wing of his RB18 car during one of the races. Continuing the chain: which the Puerto Rican later still signed for him.
Bad Bunny signs off on Max Verstappen's Oracle Red Bull Racing car
© Mark Thompson / Red Bull Content Pool
From choir to idol
Bad Bunny was sometimes seen as a child dressed as a rabbit, and was also in the church choir, which his mother took him to. He sang in it until he was 13, at which time he was to be told many times that he had great talent, which over time he began to translate into his own songs.
Is it Bad Bunny?
If you've seen the movie screening of "Fast and Furious 9," "Bullet Train," "Caught Stealing" or "Happy Gilmore 2," someone on the screen will remind you of Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican artist takes advantage of invitations to the set whenever he can, and already has several roles to his credit. In addition to the previously mentioned positions, you'll still find him in the cast of the film "Cassandro" and the series "Narcos: Mexico".
$400 million plus
$400 million was expected to pour into the Puerto Rican economy after Bad Bunny organized a series of 30 concerts at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan in 2025. Benito came up with it in a particular way: the first nine concerts were reserved exclusively for island residents. Anyone willing to attend had to present proof of residency to get a ticket. Tickets for the remaining concerts for foreign visitors cost more than compatriots and were offered in a package with rooms in local hotels. All this was done to support local businesses - Bad Bunny's concerts were deliberately scheduled outside the tourist season. The result? Plus $400 million, which translated into about +0.3% of Puerto Rican GDP.
Bad Bunny - a big Formula One fan visiting the Oracle Red Bull Racing team
© Mark Thompson/ Red Bull Content Pool
Dream seller
It's 2026, almost everyone is catching on to the viral trend #2026isthenew2016 and recalling what they did 10 years ago. What does it look like for you? For Bad Bunny, whom is now a multimillionaire and a big star beyond music, he was working a cash register at a grocery store in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, in 2016. "I was working at the store and studying at the same time. I was broke, and I had a lot of plans and dreams," he now recalls in interviews.
Did anyone say anything about studying?
Bad Bunny studied audiovisual communications at the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo, and when he became a star and a worldwide phenomenon, he became a subject of study himself. Loyola Marymount University taught a course called "Bad Bunny and Resistance in Puerto Rico," and Yale University taught "Bad Bunny: Musical Aesthetics and Politics." Although probably if one searched deeper, such a list would be much longer.
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His first
"What was the first record you bought?" - Bad Bunny was once asked. He didn't think long: "An album by Vico C. Puerto Rican rapper, a legend." On the same occasion, when asked if there was an album that particularly reminded him of home and childhood, the Puerto Rican star confessed: "One no, but Juan Gabriel's albums. My mother always turned on his music when she cleaned the house. Now I hear Juan Gabriel and I automatically remember my childhood, my mother and I love it."
To Madonna from Lana Del Rey
If you are a die-hard Bad Bunny fan you probably know which popular female artists he was inspired by and whose songs he sampled on his albums. However, for those who only know Bad Bunny from the Super Bowl Halftime Show, we'll remind you that in the song "VOU 787" he used a snippet of Madonna's "Vogue," in "Dema Ga Ge Gi Go Gu" you can hear Beyoncé's "Formation" and in "La Vida " you can hear Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die."
This is also worth knowing about Bad Bunny:
- Bad Bunny has released six albums so far. The first - "X 100pre" - in 2018.
- Bud Bunny's latest album, "Debí Tirar Más Fotos," 2025, became the first Spanish-language album ever to win a Grammy in the Album of the Year category.
- Bad Bunny has one album recorded entirely with another artist - "Oasis" with Colombian-born J Balvin.
- In addition to the music scene and films, Bad Bunny has also appeared in a video game: "WWE 2K23" and "WWE 2K24."