Jay-Z selected as Super Bowl LXI halftime performer

Rapper Jay-Z will perform at halftime of Super Bowl LXI in February, the NFL announced on Monday.

Jay-Z is the head of Roc Nation, the music and entertainment company that, along with Apple Music, selects the Super Bowl halftime act each year. The 25-time Grammy-winning musician and media mogul is now set to perform at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 14, with the game airing on ESPN and ABC.

The first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Jay-Z will perform a year after international pop icon Bad Bunny’s performance, which was widely panned by conservatives and President Trump.

Jay-Z is the second rapper in three years to serve as the Super Bowl halftime act, following Kendrick Lamar in 2025, whose performance dissing fellow rapper Drake went viral on social media for months after the show.

The Super Bowl halftime show also featured a hip-hop performance the last time it was in Los Angeles, as Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Mary J. Blige combined their talents in an ode to West Coast rap and R&B.

“From Reasonable Doubt to standing on the Super Bowl Halftime stage, this has been a journey,” Jay-Z said in a statement issued through the league. “Thirty years of music, work, and culture on the world’s biggest stage. This run continues to be a dream come true.”