Jay-Z will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI halftime show on Feb. 14 at SoFi Stadium, the NFL and Roc Nation said Monday night.
Jay-Z will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show himself. The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced on Monday night, Oct. 26, that the rapper will perform at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2027. It will be his first time on the stage, even though he has helped shape it for years.
What was announced
The news landed during Monday's Cowboys-Eagles game, according to ESPN and other outlets. The NFL's own announcement calls it the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show. It will air on ESPN, ABC and Disney+, and on mobile through NFL+. A Spanish-language telecast will run on ESPN Deportes and Disney+, with a separate Spanish presentation on Univision.
Roc Nation, the company Jay-Z founded, will executive produce the show, and Hamish Hamilton will direct. Pitchfork notes that ESPN is televising the Super Bowl for the first time, and that ABC is carrying it too, for the first time since 2006.
In a statement, Jay-Z said: "From Reasonable Doubt to standing on the Super Bowl Halftime stage, this has been a journey. Thirty years of music, work, and culture on the world's biggest stage. This run continues to be a dream come true."
How he got here
Roc Nation has worked with the NFL on entertainment since 2019, and Rolling Stone reports that Jay-Z has been a central voice in picking the halftime headliner ever since. Pitchfork says that in 2024 he told Entertainment Tonight it would feel "selfish to pick myself too early." Rolling Stone adds that Puck News reported about a week ago that he had decided to take the slot.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that when the league first agreed to let Roc Nation produce the show, he had one request: that Jay-Z take the stage himself "whenever the moment felt right to him."
The timing fits a busy year. Rolling Stone says Jay-Z marked the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, with three nights at Yankee Stadium, then shows in London and Paris. He wrapped the run this month with two nights at SoFi Stadium, with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Too Short joining him. Same stadium, different stakes.
What we don't know yet
Nothing has been said about guests, the set list or the exact kickoff time. Treat any lineup chatter you see before the league says otherwise as rumor.
Our take
This is the rare halftime pick that feels less like a surprise and more like a payoff. After Bad Bunny's show last year, which drew criticism from the far right, including President Trump, according to Pitchfork, the man who has been steering the stage is now stepping onto it. The risk is expectation. When you pick yourself, there is nowhere to hide if the set feels flat. We would bet he knows that, and we would bet the guest list is already the hardest secret in Los Angeles.
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Picture credit: Photo: Mikamote (CC BY-SA 3.0). Design: Savvy VibeZ
