Jay-Z has reportedly picked himself to headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show at SoFi Stadium on February 14, 2027, according to Puck’s report of October 20, 2026. Neither the NFL nor Roc Nation has confirmed it, though a music industry insider told Deadline it is true.
Puck Reports Jay-Z Chose Himself; Only an Insider Confirms
Puck’s report, written by Dave Brooks, says multiple sources
describe the choice as long inevitable. It was also, the sources said, more compelling
than the alternatives, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, both of whom were considered for the game. Puck said representatives for the NFL and Roc Nation did not respond to a request for comment.
Deadline reported that a music industry insider confirmed the booking to it, and that the NFL did not answer its request for comment Tuesday. TheGrio described the possibility as still unconfirmed. Fox News and the Daily Beast both framed the news as a report.
Brooks called the decision more of a consensus choice than last year’s performer, Bad Bunny, citing Jay-Z’s deep catalog, his cool factor and his marriage to Beyoncé.
Cyrus, once viewed as the front-runner, only recently came out of touring retirement for two sold-out Hollywood Bowl shows, while Jay-Z has been on the road for much of 2026. TMZ had earlier reported that Harry Styles was also among the frontrunners.
Jay-Z Plays SoFi Stadium on October 23 and 24
Jay-Z plays two shows at SoFi Stadium, on Oct. 23 and 24, the same venue that will host the game. Puck and Deadline both suggest he could make it official there. ESPN airs the game, which will be simulcast on ABC, Deadline reported. Fox notes the two SoFi dates close out his four-city tour.
Jay-Z has reportedly picked himself to headline the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show.According to Puck News, multiple sources say Jay-Z will perform at Super Bowl LXI in Los Angeles.[📸: GETTY ] pic.twitter.com/m51VB3rEHM
Halftime headliners have usually been named in September. Nexstar noted that Bad Bunny was announced Sept. 28, 2025, and Kendrick Lamar on Sept. 8, 2024. The sources don’t explain why this year’s announcement has not come.
Roc Nation’s Curator Becomes the Act
Roc Nation signed its NFL deal in 2019 and the league renewed it in 2024 for five years, in an arrangement Puck puts at $5 million a year. Billboard said the company serves as the NFL’s live music entertainment strategist.
Sources differ on when the selecting began: Fox says 2019, while Nexstar and Yahoo date it to 2020.
Jesse Collins, the event’s co-producer, told Variety in 2014, per Nexstar: It's a decision that Jay makes.
Puck adds that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hired Jay-Z to make the halftime show cool and to build goodwill with casual fans put off by the Colin Kaepernick era. Jay-Z told Variety in 2019 that the league has a great big platform that has to be all-inclusive.
Jay-Z has never headlined the show. In 2024 he told Entertainment Tonight, as Metro recounted, I thought it would be selfish to pick myself too early.
Metro added that eight years in, the timing seems right.
Puck points to the Jay-Z 30 tour, marking 30 years of Reasonable Doubt and 25 of The Blueprint. It also cites a Fugees reunion at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the kind of television moment the halftime show suits. Deadline adds a May Roots Picnic set in Philadelphia and the HBO docuseries Jay-Z in 8, made with Rick Rubin. Puck says Jay-Z’s May 30 headlining set at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia took place before an 80,000-person crowd.
Puck Flags a High Audience Bar
Deadline put Bad Bunny’s viewership at 128.8 million, slightly under Lamar’s record-setting 133M in 2025.
Jay-Z Could Collect Three Emmy Nominations
Gold Derby, via Yahoo, notes Jay-Z won Primetime Emmys as executive producer for the 2022 and 2026 shows, and an Emmy for co-directing the 2023 event. It foresees three nominations for 2027 if he performs, produces and directs.
Every show since 2020 has been nominated for Live Variety Special. The 2022 edition won, the first time hip-hop artists took a category long dominated by Broadway acts. Bad Bunny’s 2026 show set a record with nine nominations and seven wins.
Prediction Markets Put Jay-Z at 92%
Prediction markets are bets, not confirmation. Kalshi News said its market moved Jay-Z to 92% after Puck’s report, while Nexstar cited about 91%. In August, William Hill had him at evens, with Bieber at 2/1 and Cyrus at 3/1, Metro reported.
| Possible guest | Kalshi odds |
|---|---|
| Beyoncé | 64% |
| Rihanna | 45% |
| Pharrell Williams | 35% |
Deadline notes Beyoncé joined the Yankee Stadium leg, Nas and Pharrell Williams appeared at the New York shows, and Lauryn Hill and Wyclef joined the London dates. Rihanna also joined him on stage in July.
The NFL and Roc Nation have still not answered: no date, format or guest list has come from either, and the SoFi shows this weekend are the next obvious venue for one.