(Reuters) – The Super Bowl halftime show has always been a major part of the annual NFL event, and is America’s 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?
The halftime show will be performed by Kendrick Lamar, who 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 centred entirely around hip-hop music.
Lamar, who started out freestyling and battle rapping at school, released his debut studio album “Section.80” in 2011. The album sold 130,000 copies in the U.S. over the next three years.
Lamar has released five more studio albums, along with other records, selling over 17.9 million album-equivalent units worldwide. He has achieved five number-one singles in the U.S.
Singer-songwriter SZA will join Lamar as a special guest in the performance, which will be directed by Hamish Hamilton, who has directed the halftime show since 2010.
WHO IS SPONSORING THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW?
Apple Music, the music, audio and video streaming service of Apple Inc. is the sponsor of this year’s halftime performance.
The company took over sponsorship in 2023, when Rihanna performed, replacing Pepsi who 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 p.m. ET, on Sunday, Feb. 9, with the halftime show expected to begin between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
The event will be broadcast live on FOX, FOX Deportes and streamed on Tubi.
A HISTORY OF THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW
In the beginning, 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”.
Justin Timberlake joined Jackson onstage, and at the end of the song “Rock Your Body” he tore off part of her top, briefly revealing her breast.
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 massive exposure, and a significant increase in album sales and digital downloads.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes and Chiranjit Ojha; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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