The man whose company has overseen every Super Bowl halftime show since 2020 has reportedly picked himself for the next one. Jay-Z will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, according to multiple sources cited by music-business reporter Dave Brooks on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
Neither the NFL nor Roc Nation, the entertainment company Jay-Z founded, has confirmed the booking. Representatives for both did not respond to requests for comment on the report, and as of Tuesday afternoon in New York the league had made no announcement.
NEW: Jay-Z, the NFL’s chief decision-maker on who plays the Super Bowl halftime show, has finally picked the artist who will take the stage in Los Angeles in February: himself.
— Puck (@PuckNews) October 20, 2026
More from real_davebrooks: https://t.co/423hvdDvLb
Brooks reported that Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber were both considered for the February show, but that Jay-Z’s own selection had long felt inevitable inside the process. He added that the 56-year-old could formally announce the gig as soon as this weekend, when he plays two nearly sold-out concerts at SoFi Stadium, the same building that will host the Super Bowl.
Why it matters: the curator becomes the act
Roc Nation signed on as the league’s live music entertainment strategist in August 2019, a deal that put the company in charge of advising on and producing the halftime show. The partnership was renewed in 2024 for another five years and is worth about $5 million a year to Roc Nation, according to the report. Every halftime show since February 2020 has come through that arrangement:
- Super Bowl LIV (2020): Shakira and Jennifer Lopez
- Super Bowl LV (2021): The Weeknd
- Super Bowl LVI (2022): Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent
- Super Bowl LVII (2023): Rihanna
- Super Bowl LVIII (2024): Usher
- Super Bowl LIX (2025): Kendrick Lamar
- Super Bowl LX (2026): Bad Bunny
Jay-Z has never headlined the show himself. If the report holds, he would be the first person to curate the halftime show and headline it in the same year. When the partnership was announced, the league said Roc Nation would advise on the selection of artists for major performances such as the Super Bowl, and Apple Music has been the show’s title sponsor since Rihanna’s performance in 2023.
A stadium year for the Brooklyn rapper
The timing lines up with the biggest touring year of Jay-Z’s career. His current run of stadium shows marks the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, and the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint. He opened the year with a headlining set at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, then sold out three straight nights at Yankee Stadium in July, a first for any artist at the ballpark, grossing more than $42 million. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Eminem and Pharrell Williams all joined him on stage in New York.
He then played two sold-out nights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London in September, where he reunited the Fugees, and a show at the Stade de France in Paris. The two Los Angeles dates, on Friday, Oct. 23, and Saturday, Oct. 24, both start at 8 p.m. local time, which is 6 a.m. the following morning in Cairo.
Brooks noted that Jay-Z has not released a solo album since 4:44 in 2017, but argued that a deep catalog of hits and a long list of famous collaborators make him a natural fit for the halftime stage. Beyoncé, his wife, headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show in New Orleans in 2013 and returned as a guest during Coldplay’s show in 2016.
The latest reveal in years
The report also ends a long wait. Recent headliners have usually been named in September, between four and five months before kickoff, and Bad Bunny was announced 133 days before Super Bowl LX. Tuesday was 117 days before Super Bowl LXI, and no headliner had been announced. An announcement at the SoFi shows this weekend would come 113 or 114 days out, the latest reveal since The Weeknd was named in November 2020 for a Super Bowl played under COVID-19 restrictions.
SoFi Stadium is turning into the league’s entertainment capital this season. U2 will play halftime at the Packers-Rams game on Thanksgiving Eve in the same stadium on Nov. 25, and the Super Bowl itself will air on Disney’s networks with a Star Wars animated version for younger viewers.
Until the NFL, Apple Music or Roc Nation make it official, the headliner remains a report rather than a confirmed booking. WhyNFL will update this story when the league announces the act.
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