Jay-Z will headline the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show, Puck and Deadline reported on Tuesday, October 20.
Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation, has curated and produced every Super Bowl halftime performance since striking a deal with the NFL in 2019, so the billionaire rapper, 56, essentially picked himself to take the stage during the league’s next championship game on February 14 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on ABC.
Jay-Z is currently in the midst of a massive musical comeback. While has not released an album since 2017’s 4:44, the 25-time Grammy winner performed three sold-out shows at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx in July to celebrate the 30th and 25th anniversaries of his classic records Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint, respectively. He then headlined shows in London and Paris, where he sang “Happy Birthday” to his wife, Beyoncé, a two-time Super Bowl performer herself.
Jay-Z also sat down with music producer Rick Rubin for a retrospective HBO docuseries, Jay-Z in 8, which premiered in September. Next, he is scheduled to do two concerts at SoFi Stadium — notably the 2027 Super Bowl venue — on Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24.
Super Bowl LXI will mark the first time that the championship game has ever been played on Valentine’s Day as well as the second time it has taken place at SoFi Stadium. (Super Bowl LVI was held at the Los Angeles-area venue on February 13, 2022, when the L.A. Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20.)
“We are thrilled to return to the world-class SoFi Stadium for Super Bowl LXI, five years after the Los Angeles Rams lifted the Lombardi Trophy on their home field,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced on February 9. “L.A. is our backyard — two franchises, NFL Network, incredible media partners and in 2028, flag football in the Summer Olympics. We have the utmost confidence in the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee to put on another great show.”
The halftime show for the 2026 Super Bowl — which saw the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13 — proved to be highly controversial due to the league’s selection of Bad Bunny as its lead performer. (His set featured cameos from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.)
Conservatives, including President Donald Trump, called for boycotts of the halftime show since much of Bad Bunny’s music is performed in Spanish. Boxer Jake Paul, meanwhile, was widely criticized for describing Bad Bunny as a “fake American” even though the Puerto Rican artist is a U.S. citizen by birth.
Bad Bunny (real name Benito Ocasio) made light of the backlash at a February press conference as he joked that viewers “[wouldn’t] even have to learn Spanish” to enjoy his performance.
“It’s better they learn to dance,” he insisted. “There’s no better dance than the one that comes from the heart. That’s the only thing that they need to worry about.”
The late conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s advocacy group, Turning Point USA, infamously held a competing concert — called the All-American Halftime Show — in Atlanta to counter Bad Bunny’s set. (Charlie was fatally shot at age 31 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, in September 2025. His alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, has pleaded not guilty.)
“It’s powerful because what Charlie always loved and knew is that he wanted to be in the forefront of the culture war,” Charlie’s widow, Erika Kirk, told Fox News in February. “He would be fist-pumping at this. He would be so stoked. And what better way to honor him than to just get in the middle of this and be able to offer an alternative to families.”
The All-American Halftime Show featured music from Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Gabby Barrett and Lee Brice as well as a tribute to Charlie.
Early viewing figures suggested that the All-American Halftime Show brought in 19 million viewers in its first 24 hours on YouTube while the NFL touted more than 4 billion views for its halftime show across multiple platforms for the same amount of time.
Nevertheless, TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet described the All-American Halftime Show as a “massive success” as he confirmed plans for a second show in 2027.
“So I can tell you, that’s a shot across the bow,” he said on Fox News’ One Nation With Brian Kilmeade on February 8. “People are paying attention. And if you give us a year to plan this thing, I’m really excited to see what we can pull off.”
