Stars Set Tone for Super Bowl, with Green Day’s F-Bomb and Performances from Puth, Carlile and Jones

The Associated Press

10:46 JST, February 9, 2026

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Stars have been front-and-center at Super Bowl 60, from Chris Pratt and Jon Bon Jovi introducing the teams to a series of soaring pre-game performances.

Highlights from Levi’s Stadium include Blue Ivy Carter leaping in an end zone before the game and Green Day delivering a tribute to the NFL championship game’s 60th anniversary.

Brandi Carlile kept it sincere and simple for “America, the Beautiful,” Charlie Puth made “The Star-Spangled Banner” big and soulful and Coco Jones brought a bit of the elements of both to “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Bad Bunny’s upcoming halftime performance is a highly anticipated moment to come.

Green Day brings Bay rock — and an f-bomb — to an MVP parade

San Francisco Bay Area punk-pop vets Green Day took the pre-game stage and performed a snippet of their song “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” to a parade of former Super Bowl MVPs.

Local heroes Steve Young, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were among those who walked out during the song meant to celebrate 60 years of Super Bowls.

Billie Joe Armstong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool then blasted into the harder and less sentimental stuff, including “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “American Idiot.”

Armstrong did not censor the f-word in the lyrics of “American Idiot.” The word was muted on the NBC telecast but drew loud cheers inside the stadium.

Carlile and Puth deliver patriotic moments ahead of kickoff

Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth delivered a sweeping and soulful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The 34-year-old from New Jersey stood at a Rhodes electric piano as he sang and was backed by a choir and horn section.

His delivery felt slow and deliberate but it took him 1 minute, 56 seconds to sing, which is slightly faster than average for a Super Bowl anthem.

Before that, Brandi Carlile gave an earnest acoustic rendition of “America, the Beautiful.”

The 44-year-old folk and country rocker wore a black suit and was backed by a violin and cello on the field at Levi Stadium.

The Grammy winner told the AP this week that she’d use no prerecorded tracks, saying “the people deserve to have you live.”

After the song Carlile, who is from Ravensdale, Washington, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) outside Seattle said she was “relieved, and so excited for the Seahawks baby let’s go!”

Coco Jones opens Super Bowl 60 performances with ‘Lift Every Voice’

Coco Jones, a 28-year-old singer-songwriter and actor from Columbia, South Carolina wore a white gown and was backed by a string octet as she performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a song that has become known as the unofficial Black national anthem.

“I feel really amazing, I hope that I did my ancestors proud, and I hope that I inspired the nation to come together,” Jones told the AP just after the song.

She FaceTimed with her mom on the sideline ater the performance while her fiance, Cleveland Cavaliers player Donovan Mitchell, held the phone.

Written by James Weldon Johnson, the song has been performed at the Super Bowl each year since 2021, the first Super Bowl after the protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd, when Black Lives Matter sentiment, and the song, became especially prominent.

Celebrities spotted at Super Bowl 60

Chris Pratt rocked a Seahawks jersey while attending the Super Bowl and gave a rousing introduction to the team before they ran out onto the field.

On the opposite side of the field, Jon Bon Jovi delivered the Patriots’ intro.

Stars including Travis Scott and Jay-Z were on the sidelines ahead of the game. Jay-Z’s daughters, Blue Ivy and Rumi Carter, leaped in one of the end zones to take a photo.

Among those sitting in suites watching the game were Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber and Adam Sandler.

Bad Bunny awaits his big moment

Bad Bunny will look to distill a 10-year career and a heavy load of cultural expectations into a 13-minute halftime show when he takes the stage at halftime.

The 31-year-old has been rising to every moment in a monumental year. A week ago he won the Grammy for album of the year for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” a love letter to his native Puerto Rico that was the most streamed release of 2025.

Now, he takes on a performance that by its very existence is a landmark for Latino culture.

He said this week that fans didn’t need to learn Spanish to enjoy his set — but they should be prepared to dance.

LaRussell and Brad Pitt during the breaks

During game breaks, Bay Area rapper LaRussell is jamming alongside a choir, performing everything from rap classics such as his song “I’m From the Bay” and a rendition of Too $hort’s “Blow the Whistle,” along with gospel melodies.

LaRussell is the first artist chosen to curate the house band at the Super Bowl.

Among the commercials shown during the game was an unexpected first look at “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” a Netflix sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” with Brad Pitt reprising his stuntman character and David Fincher directing.