Kendrick Lamar to headline 2025 Super Bowl halftime show
Football season may have just begun, but the next Super Bowl halftime act is already set: Kendrick Lamar will headline the 2025 show, according to the announcement Sunday morning from Roc Nation, Apple Music and the NFL.
Super Bowl LIX will take place Feb. 9 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans and will air on Fox.
This will be the Grammy-winning rapper’s second time performing at the Super Bowl. He last took the field in 2022 with Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak. That was the first halftime show consisting entirely of rap and hip-hop artists, and the performance won three Emmy Awards, including outstanding variety special (live) — a first in Super Bowl halftime history.
“Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date,” said Lamar in a statement. “And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.”
For many locals whose lives were soundtracked by classic West Coast hip-hop, the Super Bowl was more once-in-a-lifetime concert than football championship.
Creative direction for Lamar’s 2025 performance will be provided by pgLang, the creative agency founded by Lamar and his longtime collaborator Dave Free, the filmmaker and producer who has helmed the majority of Lamar’s music videos. The halftime show telecast will be produced by DPS with Roc Nation and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton serving as director. Roc Nation will also serve as the strategic entertainment advisor of the live performance.
“Kendrick Lamar is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer,” said Roc Nation founder Jay-Z in a statement. “His deep love for hip-hop and culture informs his artistic vision. He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally. Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.”
Lamar’s Super Bowl headlining gig follows that of Usher, which became the most-watched halftime performance of all time and earned three Emmy nominations this year. Rihanna’s 2023 performance scored five Emmy nominations and won two, including directing for a variety special, a first for the show.
Since Lamar debuted with his 2012 album “good kid, m.A.A.d city,” the Los Angeles native has won 17 Grammy Awards and became the first non-classical, non-jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album “DAMN.” His latest album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” was released in May 2022; earlier this year, he released “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin, as well as “Euphoria,” “6:16 in LA,” “Meet the Grahams” and the record-breaking “Not Like Us.”
This was Lamar’s first live set in Southern California since he and Drake scorched the earth with reams of diss tracks that topped charts and changed their legacies forever.
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