For six years, Jay-Z has been the man helping decide who gets the Super Bowl halftime stage. Now he’s taking it himself.
The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation confirmed Monday night that Hov will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show on February 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
ESPN broke the news on October 26 during its broadcast of the Cowboys and Eagles game, following last week’s reports that he was lining up the gig. The promo took the GOAT talk very literally.
A black and white clip shows him sitting in the stadium stands with a goat on his lap and more beside him, “Public Service Announcement” playing underneath and the tagline “GOAT’S OUT OF THE BAG.”
In his statement, Jay traced the line from his debut album Reasonable Doubt to the Super Bowl stage, framing the booking as another milestone in three decades of music and culture. This run continues to be a dream come true,” he said.
Roger Goodell says he’s been hoping for this since the league first partnered with Roc Nation. The commissioner had asked Jay to perform “whenever the moment felt right to him,” and apparently that moment has arrived.
Apple’s Oliver Schusser also pointed to the rapper’s influence and the work he’s done with the company behind the scenes.
The timing lines up neatly. The JAY-Z30 campaign has spent the year marking 30 years of Reasonable Doubt and 25 of The Blueprint, with concerts in New York, London and Paris before two sold out nights at SoFi on October 23 and 24.
Too $hort, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre turned up for that LA finale, in the same building he’ll return to in February.
The anniversary push also brought a Brooklyn pop up at DUMBO’s Smack Mellon gallery, a run of reissues and a Roc Nation collector’s crate packing all 13 solo albums on vinyl.
Back in May at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, he even dropped a freestyle over The Roots that fans read as shots at Drake and Dame Dash.
Roc Nation’s NFL deal dates to August 2019, covering live music and halftime talent alongside the league’s Inspire Change social justice initiative.
Since Jennifer Lopez and Shakira kicked things off in 2020, the company has produced shows for The Weeknd, Rihanna, Usher, Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny. Its 2022 SoFi lineup of Dre, Snoop, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Lamar picked up three Emmys.
Not everyone is cheering. In a September interview with NPR, Colin Kaepernick called Jay’s decision to work with the league disappointing, arguing it undermined players protesting racial injustice.
Jay has previously defended the partnership as a way to pursue change, while Roc Nation did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.
Roc Nation will executive produce the telecast, with Hamish Hamilton directing. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ABC, streaming on Disney+ and NFL+, which puts halftime somewhere around 8 to 8:30 p.m. ET.
The setlist, runtime and guest list are still under wraps. With Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel and Freeway already sharing stages with him again this year, the guessing game has only just started.
