Burna Boy didn’t open his NFL halftime set in Paris with one of his own signature hits. He started with “4 Kampe II,” his collaboration with French-Haitian singer Joe Dwet File, a choice that felt tailor-made for a crowd at the Stade de France.
The Nigerian star took the stage on Sunday, October 25, during the league’s first ever regular-season game in France.
The Pittsburgh Steelers edged the New Orleans Saints 16 to 10, but for a lot of people watching, the halftime show was the real draw.
Opening with a Caribbean-tinged track tied to a French-speaking artist was a smart read of the room. It gave local fans something familiar before Burna steered the set back toward the songs that built his global name.
From there, he ran through some of the biggest records in his catalogue. “Ye,” the 2018 breakout from his album Outside, got its moment, alongside “On The Low” from African Giant and “Last Last” from Love, Damini.
That run covers a good chunk of his rise. “Ye” was the song that pushed him beyond Nigeria, while “Last Last” became one of the defining Afrobeats records of 2022 and still hits hard in a stadium.
The performance put his Afrofusion sound in front of an audience that mostly showed up for American football. That’s the interesting tension here, since an NFL crowd in Paris isn’t the same as a ticketed Burna Boy show full of devoted fans.
Still, the setting wasn’t unfamiliar territory for him. In April 2025, Burna Boy became the first African artist to headline a solo concert at the Stade de France, a milestone that already marked the venue as a big part of his story.
Coming back months later in a totally different context says a lot about where his career sits right now. He can fill the stadium on his own name, and he can also be the act a major American sports league trusts to carry its halftime slot abroad.
For the NFL, booking him fits a clear pattern. The league has been pushing hard into international markets with regular-season games outside the United States, and pairing a France debut with one of Africa’s biggest live performers is a way to make the event feel global rather than imported.
For Afrobeats, it’s another big stage in a long list of them. The genre has spent the last few years showing up at award shows, festivals and major sporting events, and Burna Boy has been one of the faces leading that charge.
He’s a Grammy winner, having taken Best Global Music Album for Twice as Tall, and his live reputation has grown alongside his catalogue. The energy he brings on stage is a big reason promoters and leagues keep calling.
Highlights from the Stade de France set are already circulating online. With the NFL clearly committed to playing more games overseas, the question now is which stadium Burna Boy shows up in next.
