The Super Bowl halftime show has always been a major part of the annual NFL event and is the United States’ most-watched musical performance of the year.
Here is a look at Sunday’s halftime show during the match between Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Who is performing at the Super Bowl halftime show 2025?
Kendrick Lamar will perform the halftime show. He has won 22 Grammy Awards throughout his career, including five this year for his song, “Not Like Us”, which bagged the prestigious Song of the Year and Record of the Year awards on Sunday.
Lamar is the first solo rapper to headline the halftime show.
The 37-year-old also performed at Super Bowl 2022, alongside Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Mary J Blige. It was the first halftime show to be entirely centred on hip-hop music.
Lamar, who started out freestyling and battle rapping at school, released his debut studio album, Section.80, in 2011. Over the next three years, the album sold 130,000 copies in the US.
Lamar has released five more studio albums, along with other records, selling more than 17.9 million album-equivalent units worldwide. He has achieved five number-one singles in the US.
What can we expect from Kendrick Lamar’s performance?
In a news conference hosted by Apple Music, Lemer said he is staying true to his storytelling roots during his halftime performance.
“Storytelling. I think I’ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music. And I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on.”
Singer-songwriter SZA will join Lamar as a special guest. The event will be directed by Hamish Hamilton, who has directed the halftime show since 2010.
But few other details about the performance were revealed, bowing to a tradition in which headliners keep their plans secret.
Time to shine. #SBLIX https://t.co/KaJDfUCs8n
— Super Bowl (@SuperBowl) February 3, 2025
Apple Music, the music, audio, and video streaming service of Apple Inc, sponsors this year’s halftime performance.
The company took over sponsorship in 2023, when Rihanna performed, replacing Pepsi which had been sponsor since 2013.
Where can I watch the Super Bowl halftime show?
The Super Bowl is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 pm ET (23:30 GMT), on Sunday, February 9, with the halftime show expected to begin between 8-8:30pm (01:00-01:30 GMT).
The event will be broadcast live on FOX, FOX Deportes and streamed on Tubi.
A history of the Super Bowl halftime show
Initially, the show mainly featured college marching bands, before progressing to drill teams and performance ensembles, but it all changed in 1991 when boy band New Kids on the Block were the headline act.
The rest of the Nineties had artists such as Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Gloria Estefan perform.
At the turn of the century, a number of different acts performed together. In 2000, Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias and Toni Braxton appeared and the following year brought Aerosmith and NSYNC together.
U2 replaced Janet Jackson in 2002, and the band performed a tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
Jackson would get her chance in 2004, where her performance created controversy due to an infamous “wardrobe malfunction”. The incident led to a change for the next few years, with just one artist or group performing, mainly mainstream rock acts such as Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Prince and Bruce Springsteen.
In 2011, contemporary artists made a return, with the previous format of a headline act and a number of guests.
Since then, Madonna, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Dr Dre and Eminem have all performed at the show, which guarantees them huge exposure and a significant increase in album sales and digital downloads.
