Bad Bunny’s wild rise to fame, from working as a shop bagger to Super Bowl halftime show

Bad Bunny is everywhere right now after his iconic Super Bowl halftime performance, but just ten years ago, the Puerto Rican singer was working as a bagger at a shop.

Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, just won a Grammy for album of the year, and had the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show of all time. He’s built up a huge career as an international singer and has a sold-out tour coming up this year, including two shows at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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But the 31-year-old has not always been this successful. At the start of his music career, Bad Bunny was working as a bagger at a supermarket in his hometown of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. His dad was a truck driver, and his mum taught English at a local school. He’s described his upbringing as “humble”.

“I was making music and working at a supermarket. I always kept making music. And I did it with passion. At the time, I never made music with the hope of leaving my job. I did it because I loved making music,” he said in an interview with Highsnobeity.

“If a small-town boy like me who bagged groceries was able to make his dreams come true, you can too.”

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The singer was studying at the University of Puerto Rico, where he pursued a degree in audiovisual communications. He dropped out after two and a half years to focus on his music career.

Bad Bunny released his breakout hit, Soy Pear, in 2017, first on Soundcloud, where it instantly went viral in Puerto Rico and earned him the attention of record label Hear This Music. Just a year later, he featured on I Like It by Cardi B, which was his official introduction to most of the world. The song went straight to number one on the US charts.

“I still haven’t gotten used to being perceived on this incredible scale… Maybe not understanding my reach helps keep me humble. It helps keep me the same Benito that I was growing up,” he said in the same interview.

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Featured image via Instagram/JOHN G MABANGLO/EPA/Shutterstock