Rapper, entrepreneur and producer Jay-Z is scheduled to headline the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show, shifting from his role as an entertainment advisor to the featured performer.
The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Monday night that Jay-Z will take center stage for the halftime festivities on Feb. 14 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The announcement was accompanied by a short video showing Jay-Z seated inside SoFi Stadium surrounded by goats, accompanied by the caption “GOAT’s out of the bag.”
The confirmation ends days of speculation and brings the artist back to the stadium where he recently concluded his “Jay-Z 30” concert run over the weekend. That tour kicked off with three performances at Yankee Stadium in New York, stopped in London, and wrapped up in Southern California.
Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation, has maintained a partnership with the NFL since 2019, advising on and helping produce the league’s major entertainment presentations, including the annual Super Bowl halftime spectacle. At the time the partnership was formed, Jay-Z recounted telling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that negotiations would end immediately if the arrangement hinged on him performing at the event himself. Seven years later, the stance has shifted.
Since Roc Nation began collaborating with the league, a succession of prominent artists has headlined the halftime stage, including Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, The Weeknd, Rihanna, and Kendrick Lamar. Most recently, Bad Bunny performed at last season’s Super Bowl in February, generating massive streaming surges that placed him across the top positions on music discovery charts the following morning, holding the top six spots on Spotify’s Top 50 U.S. chart alongside numerous other tracks.
Born Shawn Carter, Jay-Z boasts an extensive career marked by 25 Grammy Awards from 89 nominations, placing him second in history behind his wife, Beyoncé, who has performed at two Super Bowls. His foundational catalog includes acclaimed albums such as “Reasonable Doubt,” “The Blueprint,” and “The Black Album,” alongside enduring hits like “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),” “99 Problems,” and the Alicia Keys collaboration “Empire State of Mind.”
His 1996 debut album, “Reasonable Doubt,” received induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame last year. Beyond his solo discography, Jay-Z co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records and established Roc Nation in 2008, expanding his footprint into music publishing, artist management, and sports representation. His industry achievements also include historic milestones as the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017, followed by an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
