Meet the man behind the viral AI-generated 'Puerto Rico' song on social media
An AI-generated song about Puerto Rico has gone viral across TikTok, and now, the man behind the tune is speaking out.
Bill Stiteler of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told ABC News he has been impressed by the song's reach since sharing it in a TikTok post in April.
"I'm waking up, I got [the band] O-Town doing dances to it, like, this is incredible," Stiteler said.
Stiteler's "The Puerto Rico Song" has already been used in over 46,000 TikTok posts, with some calling it a strong contender for the "song of the summer."
Celebrities like O-Town, Charlie Puth, Luke Combs, and Jennifer Love Hewitt have jumped on the trend, recording themselves lip-synching and dancing to lyrics such as "First time in San Juan / mi hijo / capital of Puerto Rico" and "The whole plane clapped when we landed."
Stiteler said he came up with the lyrics after being inspired by a trip to Puerto Rico, and the rest was created by Suno, an AI music generator app he has been using for the past two years. He said he input the lyrics and then gave the program a prompt describing what he wanted the song to sound like.
When asked what that prompt was, Stiteler responded, "You gotta pay me for that, that's the secret sauce. You kidding me? I'm not saying that on national TV."
Stiteler said he started generating AI songs -- including a series of songs inspired by trips to different cities and countries -- as a way to be creative and fill time during his sobriety journey.
He said he is upfront about using AI to create the songs he shares on social media and includes the "sunomusic" hashtag and the Suno account tag in his captions.
Suno has faced legal trouble previously, with record companies suing the platform in 2024 for copyright infringement, as reported by The Associated Press.
According to the AP, Warner Music Group and other labels settled with Suno in November 2025 and have since signed licensing agreements with the AI company.
On the heels of his song's viral success, Stiteler said he's now receiving opportunities he never thought possible, including meeting and discussing plans with Puerto Rico's tourism marketing organization.
