Jay-Z is moving from behind the scenes to center stage at the Super Bowl.
The 25-time Grammy Award winner will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show on Feb. 14 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Monday.
The performance comes seven years after Jay-Z’s Roc Nation partnered with the NFL to help shape and produce the league’s halftime entertainment. When the partnership began, Jay-Z made clear that securing a Super Bowl performance for himself was not the motivation.
“If this is about me performing at the Super Bowl, then we can just end this conversation now,” Jay-Z recalled telling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at the time.
That stance has changed as the 56-year-old rapper prepares for his first appearance as the halftime show’s featured performer.
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, recently completed a series of concerts celebrating the 30th anniversary of his debut album, “Reasonable Doubt.” The tour concluded with shows at SoFi Stadium, where he will return for the Super Bowl less than four months later.
His catalog includes “Reasonable Doubt,” “The Blueprint” and “The Black Album,” along with songs such as “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),” “99 Problems” and “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys.
Jay-Z became the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017 and entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame four years later.
Bad Bunny headlined last season’s halftime show, which averaged 128.2 million viewers. Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 performance drew 133.5 million, setting a record for a Super Bowl halftime show.
–Field Level Media
