Kendrick Lamar to headline Super Bowl LIX halftime show

It will be some time before we know who will play in the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, but the halftime act is locked in.

It was revealed on Sunday morning that Kendrick Lamar will be the featured performer at halftime of the Feb. 9 extravaganza on FOX. The NFL posted a video from Lamar to make the reveal.

He’ll join a storied list of Super Bowl performers that has included everyone from Alicia Keys and Jennifer Lopez to the Rolling Stones and Prince.

And New Orleans itself has a great history of incredible halftime acts. The city will host the Super Bowl for the 11th time in February. Past halftime acts there have included Beyonce, U2, The Blue Brothers and James Brown, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Here is a look back at Super Bowl halftime acts. Games that took place in New Orleans are marked with an asterisk.

• 2024: Usher with special guests Alicia Keys, Jermaine Dupri, H.E.R., will.i.am, Lil Jon, Ludacris
• 2023: Rihanna
• 2022: Eminem, Dr. Dre. Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige

You might have noticed Kendrick Lamar listed above. Yes, that’s right, this will not be his first appearance at a Super Bowl, as he took part in the 2022 game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

• 2021: The Weeknd
• 2020: Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Emme Muniz
• 2019: Maroon 5, Travis Scott, Big Boi
• 2018: Justin Timberlake, The Tennessee Kids
• 2017: Lady Gaga
• 2016: Coldplay, Beyonce, Bruno Mars
• 2015: Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott
• 2014: Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers
• *2013: Beyonce and Destiny’s Child

Beyonce headlined this one at the Superdome, along with special guests Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child. It was at the time the second most watched show in Super Bowl history, with 110.8 million viewers.

There were reports that her husband, Jay-Z, was going to make an appearance in the show, but he did not. A report by US Weekly later said that Jay-Z decided not to at the last minute so that it would be Beyonce’s moment.

• 2012: Madonna
• 2011: The Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Slash
• 2010: The Who
• 2009: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
• 2008: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• 2007: Prince and the Florida A&M marching band
• 2006: The Rolling Stones
• 2005: Paul McCartney
• 2004: Janet Jackson, Kid Rock, P. Diddy, Nelly and Justin Timberlake
• 2003: Shania Twain, No Doubt and Sting
• *2002: Tribute to those killed in Sept. 11 attacks, with U2

The 2002 show was particularly moving, coming a few months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Janet Jackson was originally scheduled to be the act, but the NFL decided to go with a different tone, and Irish rock band U2 was chosen after some league executives took in one of their concerts in New York in October 2001.

U2 played their 2000 hit single “Beautiful Day,” the 1984 song “MLK,” and their 1987 hit single “Where the Streets Have No Name.” While the latter two songs played, names of the September 11 victims were projected behind the stage and across the interior of the Superdome.

• 2001: “The Kings of Rock and Pop” featuring Aerosmith, ‘N’Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly
• 2000: “A Tapestry of Nations” featuring Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton and an 80-person choir
• 1999: “Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing” featuring Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and tap dancer Savion Glover
• 1998: “A Tribute to Motown’s 40th Anniversary” including Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson, Queen Latifah, Martha Reeves and The Temptations
• *1997: “Blues Brothers Bash” featuring Dan Akroyd, John Goodman and James Belushi (also featuring “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown and ZZ Top)

The 1997 show at the Superdome had a distinct blues feel, with James Brown being joined by The Blue Brothers, as well as blues-rock band ZZ Top. Brown played his hits “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine.” All of the performers joined up at the end for a rousing rendition of “Gimme Some Lovin'”.

• 1996: Diana Ross celebrating 30 years of the Super Bowl with special effects, pyrotechnics and stadium card stunt. Finale featured Diana Ross being taken from the stadium in a helicopter
• 1995: “Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye” featuring Tony Bennett, Patti LaBelle, Arturo Sandoval, the Miami Sound Machine and stunts including fire and skydivers. Finale included audience participation with light sticks
• 1994: “Rockin’ Country Sunday” featuring Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, Wynonna & Naomi Judd. Finale included flashlight stunt
• 1993: “Heal the World” featuring Michael Jackson and 3,500 local children. Finale included audience card stunt
• 1992: “Winter Magic” including a salute to the winter season and the winter Olympics featuring Gloria Estefan, Brian Boitano and Dorothy Hamill
• 1991: “A Small World Salute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl” featuring New Kids on the Block
• *1990: “Salute to New Orleans” and 40th Anniversary of Peanuts’ characters, featuring trumpeter Pete Fountain, Doug Kershaw & Irma Thomas and others

The 1990 halftime show at the Superdome was an interesting mix. It was partly a salute to New Orleans, featuring performances by three Louisiana natives — clarinet player Pete Fountain, fiddle player Doug Kershaw and singer Irma Thomas. It also feature performances by three bands from local colleges Southern University, ULL and Nicholls State. 

The finale featured a float shaped like a giant riverboat. Oh, and it was also a tribute to the comic strip Peanuts.

• 1989: “Be Bop Bamboozled” featuring 3-D effects
• 1988: “Something Grand” featuring 88 grand pianos, the Rockettes and Chubby Checker
• 1987: “Salute to Hollywood’s 100th Anniversary”
• *1986: “Beat of the Future” with Up With People

Up With People was the headliner at four Super Bowls, and this was their final performance. The theme of the show was “Beat of the Future” and the show itself was given the title “Room for Everyone”.

The performance was dedicated in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. 

• 1985: “A World of Children’s Dreams”
• 1984: “Super Bowl XVIII’s Salute to the Superstars of the Silver Screen”
• 1983: “KaleidoSUPERscope” (a kaleidoscope of color and sound)
• 1982: “A Salute to the 60s and Motown”
• *1981: “A Mardi Gras Festival” with Southern University Marching Band, Helen O’Connell

Like the 1986 show, 1981’s performance feature Up With People, as well as singers and dancers, and had a “Mardi Gras Festival” feel.

• 1980: “A Salute to the Big Band Era” with Up with People
• 1979: “Super Bowl XIII Carnival” Salute to the Caribbean with Ken Hamilton and various Caribbean bands
• *1978: “From Paris to the Paris of America” with Tyler Apache Belles, Pete Fountain and Al Hirt

The 1978 show at the Superdome featured performances by the Apache Band and Apache Belles Drill team from Tyler Junior College, clarinet player Pete Fountain and trumpet player Al Hirt.

• 1977: “It’s a Small World” including crowd participation for first time with spectators waving colored placards on cue
• 1976: “200 Years and Just a Baby” Tribute to America’s Bicentennial
• *1975: “Tribute to Duke Ellington” with Mercer Ellington and Grambling State Marching Band

The 1975 game at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans was a tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington, who had died the previous May. Ellington’s son Mercer performed, as did the Grambling State Marching Band.

• 1974: “A Musical America” with University of Texas band
• 1973: “Happiness Is.” with University of Michigan marching band and Woody Herman
• *1972: “Salute to Louis Armstrong” with Ella Fitzgerald, Carol Channing, Al Hirt and others

The 1972 show at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans featured legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, actress and singer Carol Channing, trumpet player Al Hirt and the U.S. Marine Corps Drill Team.

• 1971: Florida A&M band
• *1970: Carol Channing, Marguerite Piazza, Doc Severinsen, Lairen & Tara, Al Hirt, Lionel Hampton, Southern University Marching Band

Super Bowl IV was the first to take place in New Orleans and was held at Tulane Stadium. The halftime show featured, among others, jazz trumpet player Doc Severinsen, who was also the bandleader for “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

• 1969: “America Thanks” with Florida A&M University band
• 1968: Grambling State band
• 1967: University of Arizona and Grambling State marching bands