After weeks of suffering, Jay-Zthe main decision-maker who will perform the Super Bowl halftime show, has finally chosen the artist who will take the stage in Los Angeles in February: himself. This is according to several sources, who affirm that this choice has long seemed inevitable and more convincing than Miley Cyrus And Justin Bieberboth of which were considered for SBLXI. Additionally, a Jay-Z performance is the natural next step in the $5 million-a-year deal his Roc Nation signed with the NFL in 2019 — and renewed in 2024 — to host and produce the halftime show. The league renewed this agreement in 2024 for another five years. (Representatives for the NFL and Roc Nation did not respond to a request for comment.)
Jay-Z, 56, seems to be a more consensus choice than last year’s artist, Bad bunnywho had the audacity to be born in Puerto Rico, sing in Spanish and preach a message of hemispheric unity. The billionaire rapper/entrepreneur is married to Beyoncé and has an extensive catalog of hits that Gen X and millennial fans know by heart. His long-standing ties with Barack Obama— which helped lead to his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 — may draw criticism from Fox News, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Jay was hired by the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to make the halftime show cool and build goodwill with casual fans discouraged by the public relations spasms of the Colin Kaepernick era.
The 2027 game seems like the right time for the Brooklyn rapper, who is breaking stadium attendance records across North America as he celebrates the 30th anniversary of his debut. Reasonable doubtand the 25th anniversary of The plan. In July, he grossed more than $42 million from three sold-out shows at Yankee Stadium. He crashed his May 30 headlining set at the 80,000-person Roots Picnic in Philadelphia (where he took a few shots at Kaepernick), and last month grossed $12 million in front of a packed house in Paris. His greatest feat, reuniting the Fugees last month at his two sold-out London shows at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, is the type of TV moment the Super Bowl halftime show is made for. And a Jay-led show would surely rely on his Rolodex, if not his marriage, to deliver these kinds of cameos. (Another sign that he is in inheritance polishing mode: the eight parts, Rick Rubin–with a documentary currently airing on HBO.)
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