Allow me to reintroduce the Super Bowl halftime performer ... his name is Jay-Z. Using a snippet from one of his most iconic songs, "Public Service Announcement," the rapper was announced as the Super Bowl LXI halftime performer. This is the first time he will take the Super Bowl halftime stage.
GOAT’s out of the bag. @sc #AppleMusicHalftime #SBLXI pic.twitter.com/6wnIqTKjZB Roc Nation, co-founded by Jay-Z, partnered with the NFL in 2019 to produce the halftime show. HOV has a major influence in choosing the performer, and this year he went with himself. While the 89-time Grammy nominee has not announced any special guests yet, there are already numerous names that come to mind for potential additions, including superstar singer Beyoncé, previous halftime performers Rihanna and Eminem.
The Super Bowl, concluding the 2026 season, will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on February 14, 2027. The halftime show has been headlined by some of the biggest artists of all time and has delivered wild, iconic moments throughout the Super Bowl's 60-year history. Last year, Bad Bunny headlined, taking the stage at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Lady Gaga joined him on stage to perform her hit, "Die With A Smile," marking her third Super Bowl appearance and first as a halftime show guest. Other past headliners include Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Usher and Beyoncé. For artists who play the Super Bowl halftime show, the audience is exponentially bigger than any they have ever encountered.
It was not always like that, however. So what were the shows like before they became must-see television? Do you remember that killer halftime show featuring the Rockettes, Chubby Checker and 88 grand pianos in 1988?
Do you remember the captivating "Be Bop Bamboozled" at the Orange Bowl in 1989? Ditto Carol Channing (twice) or any of those four contrived Up With People performances in the late '70s and early '80s. Before Michael Jackson, the Super Bowl halftime show was an endless wasteland of college marching bands and flag-spinning tributes -- from salutes to Hollywood (twice), to Motown, to the Big Band Era, to the Caribbean, to Duke Ellington.
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