A Big W in Hova-Time: JAŸ-Z Will Headline Super Bowl Halftime Show

No Reasonable Doubt remains: JAŸ-Z will be the halftime headliner of Super Bowl LXI, slated for Valentine’s Day at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The announcement was made by Apple Music, the NFL and Roc Nation during the Cowboys-Eagles Monday Night Football showdown.

Rumors had been flying for months that the Roc Nation boss had selected himself as the star attraction, and the booking caps a valedictory phase in the artist-mogul’s storied career. He just performed back-to-back shows at SoFi, sold out three nights at Yankee Stadium over the summer and rocked London and Paris in celebration of two big anniversaries: the 30th of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, and the 25th of another landmark set, The Blueprint. He further burnished his rep with an eight-part HBO doc, Jay-Z in 8, which saw him go very deep with interviewer Rick Rubin.

"Thirty years of music, work and culture on the world’s biggest stage,” reads a quote issued by the megastar. “This run continues to be a dream come true.”

“For several years, we’ve had the privilege of working closely with JAŸ-Z and Roc Nation, and I’ve seen the extraordinary impact he has had on the Super Bowl halftime show,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “When we first reached an agreement with Roc Nation to produce the show, I had just one request: that JAŸ-Z take the stage himself one day, whenever the moment felt right to him.”

“JAŸ-Z's impact on global music culture is as profound as it is undeniable,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s VP of music and international content. “We've had the privilege of working closely with him these last few years to bring some of the world's most exciting and prolific artists to the Super Bowl halftime show stage and we are so thrilled that he will be taking that stage himself this year.”

This will be Roc Nation’s eighth time booking the Super Bowl, and it follows a show by Bad Bunny that snagged seven Emmys and drove the Puerto Rican artist into the stratosphere. In another cultural landmark, the Roc-programmed 2022 halftime show starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and Mary J. Blige was the first to focus on hip-hop.

What material will JAŸ-Z perform? Which guests will he bring out? Will he retire his umlaut? We can only guess. The guy’s got 99 problems, and HITS is one.