Jay-Z will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show on 14 February 2027

Jay-Z is headlining the Super Bowl LXI halftime show. The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation confirmed it on 26 October 2026, and it will be the first time he has performed at the game himself. The show is on Sunday 14 February 2027 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and the game airs in the US on ABC and ESPN.

A producer becomes the headliner

For readers outside the US: the Super Bowl halftime show is the most-watched live music slot in American television, a roughly 13-minute set in the middle of the NFL championship game. Since 2019 it has been produced by Roc Nation, the entertainment company Jay-Z founded, working with the league and its halftime sponsor, Apple Music.

That run has put Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, The Weeknd, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar and, most recently, Bad Bunny on the field. Until now the man who helped pick those names has stayed off the stage. Roc Nation is again executive producing, with Hamish Hamilton directing.

What has been said

In the announcement, Jay-Z framed the set as three decades of music, work and culture on the biggest stage there is. The NFL's commissioner, Roger Goodell, has said the league long hoped he would one day take the slot himself. Apple has also said that when it agreed its deal with Roc Nation, the one thing it asked for was that Jay-Z perform when the moment felt right to him.

No guests or setlist have been confirmed. We will update when the league or Roc Nation says more.

Why it lands

JAY-Z has been a major name since Reasonable Doubt in 1996, which makes the "thirty years" framing literal. His wife, Beyoncé, has played the halftime show twice: headlining in 2013 and as a guest in 2016. The 2027 date also falls on Valentine's Day, a coincidence the internet will have noticed before we did.

The pick also closes a loop. The halftime show has become a place where the league borrows credibility from hip-hop, and the person who negotiated that arrangement is now the one performing in it. Expect a long list of collaborators to be guessed at between now and February.