Jay-Z will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show on February 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation confirmed on Monday night. The announcement landed during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles game, ending years of speculation about when the rapper would take the stage himself.
The announcement
Apple Music shared a teaser video of Jay-Z sitting in a stadium seat surrounded by goats, captioned "GOAT's out of the bag." In a statement, the 56-year-old rapper said: "From Reasonable Doubt to standing on the Super Bowl Halftime stage, this has been a journey. Thirty years of music, work, and culture on the world's biggest stage. This run continues to be a dream come true."
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that when the league first reached its agreement with Roc Nation, he had just one request: that Jay-Z take the stage himself one day, whenever the moment felt right. Apple's vice president of music and international content, Oliver Schusser, said the company was thrilled that Jay-Z would finally perform, calling his impact on global music culture profound and undeniable.
From picker to performer
The twist fans cannot stop talking about is that Jay-Z, through Roc Nation, has helped choose the halftime performers since the company partnered with the NFL in 2019. Acts selected during that run include Rihanna, Usher, Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny, whose 2026 show won seven Emmy Awards. Roc Nation will executive produce the 2027 show, with Hamish Hamilton directing.
That history is why one question has dominated reaction online: did Jay-Z just pick himself? The answer, in effect, is yes, and the NFL has framed it as years in the making rather than a surprise. The announcement also caps a year celebrating 30 years of his 1996 debut album "Reasonable Doubt," including sold-out shows at Yankee Stadium and a run that ended this past weekend with two nights at SoFi Stadium itself.
Who might join him?
No special guests have been announced, but speculation is already running. His wife Beyonce, who headlined the halftime show in 2013 and appeared as a guest in 2016, tops most lists. Other names in the frame after appearing on his recent tour include his daughter Blue Ivy, John Legend, DJ Khaled, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, all of whom joined him at SoFi Stadium over the weekend.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has won 25 Grammy Awards from 89 nominations in a career that began in the early 1990s. The 2027 game falls on Valentine's Day, and it will be the second Super Bowl staged at SoFi Stadium, which hosted the game in 2022. With more than three months to go, the only certainty is the date, the venue and the headliner. Everything else, from the setlist to the surprise guests, is now the biggest guessing game in music.
Watch: Apple Music's announcement teaser for Jay-Z as the 2027 Super Bowl halftime headliner
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Silly Fun (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Just Jared, Philstar, 9to5Mac, Extra, ClutchPoints.