Jay-Z's entertainment company Roc Nation has consulted with the NFL to curate the Super Bowl halftime show since 2020. This year, the 25-time Grammy winner called his own number. In a message through Apple Music, sponsors of the Super Bowl LXI halftime show, Jay-Z announced that he'll be the headline performer. It's a little surprising that Jay-Z would nominate himself, but it does fit his brand.
The Super Bowl halftime show has erupted in popularity since partnering with Jay-Z and Roc Nation, with the 2025 production headlined by Kendrick Lamar finally unseating Michael Jackson's performance in 1993 with a record 133.5 million viewers, per Billboard Magazine. That surpassed the numbers put up by Usher in 2024 (129.3 million) and Bad Bunny in 2026
(128.2 million), but not by much.
GOAT’s out of the bag. @sc #AppleMusicHalftime #SBLXI pic.twitter.com/6wnIqTKjZB
— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) October 27, 2026
Super Bowl XLI is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 14 (that's right, Valentine's Day) and will be held at SoFi Stadium in sunny Southern California. The New Orleans Saints face even longer of odds of reaching the championship game than when the season started, but it's a safe bet that this year's performance will draw a large crowd no matter who is competing in the game.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Jay-Z announces who will perform at halftime of Super Bowl LXI
