Kendrick Lamar to headline 2025 Super Bowl halftime show

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar will be the headlining act for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show.

Lamar announced the news on Sunday on his social media pages, as did the NFL.

“Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date. And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one,” Lamar said in a statement on Sunday.

Super Bowl LIX will take place February 9, 2025 in New Orleans and air on FOX.

The NFL, Roc Nation and Apple Music announced the news on the first Sunday of the 2024-2025 regular season.

The “Not Like Us” rapper made his debut on the Super Bowl halftime show stage in 2022 when he performed alongside Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent.

This will be his first time headlining the halftime show show, which is viewed by millions of people every year.

Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation will serve as the strategic entertainment advisor of Lamar’s live performance, called the rapper a “truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer” 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,” Jay-Z added. “Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.”

Lamar is one of hip-hop’s most celebrated artists. He has won 17 Grammys and earned a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album “Damn,” becoming the first non-classical, non-jazz musician to win the coveted honor.

He released his fifth studio album in 2022 titled “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” and his hit track “Like That,” a collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin, spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His song “Not Like Us,” released in April amid Lamar’s so-called feud with rapper Drake, claimed the No. 1 spot on the chart for two weeks.

Usher was last year’s Super Bowl halftime show headliner. His set, a 13-minute walk down Millennial musical memory lane, was the most-watched halftime performance of all time, according to Billboard, drawing an average of 123.4 million viewers. Rihanna’s 2023 halftime show performance is the second-most watched set with 121 million viewers.

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl LVIII in a thrilling game that became the most-watched American television broadcast in a generation, CBS said at the time.

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Kevin Dotson and Jill Martin contributed to this report.