Super Bowl 2027 Halftime Show: Who Is Performing and Everything We Know
- October 12, 2026
- 8 min read
Short answer first, because that is what you came for: the Super Bowl 2027 halftime show performer has not been announced. As of early October 2026 the NFL has not named anyone for Super Bowl LXI, and anyone telling you otherwise is repeating a rumour.
What makes this year unusual is that the announcement is now overdue. Six of the last seven performers were named in September, and the league has said nothing. Here is what is actually reported, what is rumour, and why the silence has become the story.
Has the Super Bowl 2027 halftime show been announced?
No. Super Bowl LXI is on Sunday, February 14, 2027 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, and the halftime performer remains unconfirmed.
For comparison, Bad Bunny headlined Super Bowl LX in February 2026, and that announcement came in late September 2025, roughly four and a half months before the game. Apply the same gap to LXI and the announcement window opens right about now.
When the announcement is expected
The NFL normally reveals the halftime act in late September. That window has passed. The latest announcement in recent memory was The Weeknd, named on 12 November 2020 for the following February, so there is precedent for a later reveal, but this is no longer business as usual.
A few things usually happen in order:
- Trade press reports a shortlist, often weeks before anything official.
- The artist’s own schedule goes quiet for early February.
- The NFL, its music partner and Roc Nation announce jointly, usually with a short teaser video.
- Ticket and travel demand for the host city moves within hours.
That last point is the practical one. If you are still deciding on hotels, booking before the announcement is almost always cheaper than booking after it.
Who is being talked about for Super Bowl LXI
Everything in this section is reporting and speculation, not confirmation. We are flagging that clearly because a lot of pages about this topic do not.
- Miley Cyrus. The current front runner on prediction markets, where she moved from roughly 29 to 57 percent in a single week, largely on the back of a leak that turned out to be fake.
- Jay-Z. Around 41 percent and falling. Roc Nation, which produces the show, is his company, and the idea of him headlining came from an unconfirmed report rather than from the league.
- Justin Bieber and Harry Styles. Named in September as sitting on Roc Nation’s shortlist. That was the strongest reporting of the autumn and nothing has followed it.
- Everyone else. Sabrina Carpenter, Cardi B and Taylor Swift turn up in speculation pieces with nothing behind them.
Treat prediction market odds as sentiment, not information. They moved this month on a screenshot that turned out to be fabricated, which is a fair summary of what they actually measure.
The Apple Music screenshot that was not real
In early October a screenshot circulated claiming Apple Music had posted a teaser naming the performer and then deleted it. It spread far enough to move the betting markets.
It was fabricated. Fact checkers found no record of the post ever existing, and neither Apple Music nor the NFL has published anything. The rule of thumb for the next few weeks: if you are looking at a screenshot rather than a live post on an official account, assume it is fake.
Why the Super Bowl 2027 halftime show announcement is running late
Reporting on the delay is thin, and none of it is confirmed. The most repeated claim, which began in the British press and was picked up by music outlets, is that artists have grown wary of the scrutiny and political criticism that now follows a halftime booking. The same reporting floated a fallback: a show led by Jay-Z with guest performers, if no solo headliner signs.
Several reasons to hold that loosely. It rests on an unnamed source, Roc Nation has not confirmed any booking difficulty, and the Jay-Z claim was openly mocked by Cam’ron and Mase on their own show. USA TODAY has put the question to both the NFL and Roc Nation and has not had an answer.
The dull explanation is also available: contracts take as long as they take, and the league has announced late before.
How the NFL actually picks the performer
Since 2019 the show has been produced in partnership with Roc Nation, which effectively curates the shortlist and takes it to the league. A streaming or technology sponsor sits alongside it, and the sponsor name has changed over the years.
The selection balances a few things at once: global streaming reach, a catalogue that works in a 13-minute medley, availability in early February, and a performer willing to do it for scale rather than a fee. The NFL does not pay a performance fee in the traditional sense, it covers production costs, which are substantial.
Host city matters too, though less than fans assume. Which brings us to the interesting part.
Why a Los Angeles halftime show is a hard act to follow
The last Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium was February 2022, and the halftime show was Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent on a set built to look like a Compton street. It is widely regarded as one of the best in the show’s history, and it was explicitly a Los Angeles statement.
Whoever gets Super Bowl LXI is performing in the same building, five years later, with that comparison hanging over them. That is a real constraint on the booking, and it is one argument for a legacy act with a deep catalogue rather than a current chart artist.
Recent headliners, for context:
- Super Bowl LX, February 2026: Bad Bunny
- Super Bowl LIX, February 2025: Kendrick Lamar
- Super Bowl LVIII, February 2024: Usher
- Super Bowl LVII, February 2023: Rihanna
- Super Bowl LVI, February 2022 at SoFi: Dr. Dre and friends
The Valentine’s Day factor
February 14, 2027 is Valentine’s Day, the first time the Super Bowl has fallen on it. It is a small thing, but it is the kind of detail a halftime producer notices.
A show built around a romantic catalogue would be an obvious fit, and it would be the first time the date gave anyone a reason to do that. Whether the league leans into it or ignores it entirely is one of the few genuinely open questions here.
If you are planning around the date rather than the music, we have a full guide to Super Bowl week on a Valentine’s weekend.
How to watch Super Bowl LXI
This is where LXI breaks new ground. The game airs on ABC and ESPN, making it ESPN’s first ever English-language Super Bowl broadcast and ABC’s first since February 2006.
Spanish-language coverage runs on Univision and ESPN Deportes, with radio on Westwood One. The broadcast team is Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, with Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge reporting.
The halftime show itself is always carried live on the main broadcast and posted to the NFL’s own channels shortly after.
The short version
The Super Bowl 2027 halftime show performer is still unannounced, and the usual September window has come and gone. Miley Cyrus leads the betting, Jay-Z sits behind her, and the one piece of real reporting still points at Justin Bieber and Harry Styles. Everything else is rumour, including a leak that was simply made up. The show returns to the stadium that hosted the Dr. Dre halftime in 2022, which raises the bar considerably. Book travel before the name drops, not after.
We update this page as soon as the NFL confirms, so it is worth saving.
Frequently asked questions
Who is performing at the Super Bowl LXI halftime show?
Nobody has been confirmed. As of early October 2026 the NFL has not announced a headliner for Super Bowl LXI. Justin Bieber and Harry Styles have been reported as being on the shortlist, but neither is official.
When will the Super Bowl LXI halftime performer be announced?
It is already overdue. Six of the last seven performers were named in September, and that window has passed for Super Bowl LXI. The latest reveal in recent memory was The Weeknd on 12 November 2020, so a November announcement would not be unprecedented.
Who performed at the last Super Bowl held at SoFi Stadium?
Super Bowl LVI in February 2022 featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent. It is considered one of the strongest halftime shows the NFL has staged.
Does the Super Bowl halftime performer get paid?
Not a traditional performance fee. The NFL covers production costs, which can be considerable, and artists take part for the exposure, which typically produces a large streaming and sales increase afterwards.
What channel is Super Bowl LXI on?
ABC and ESPN carry the game in English, the first Super Bowl broadcast ever for ESPN and the first for ABC since 2006. Univision and ESPN Deportes carry Spanish-language coverage.
Sources
- Super Bowl LXI: date, venue, broadcast details and halftime status
- TMZ: Harry Styles and Justin Bieber reported on the halftime shortlist
- NPR: Bad Bunny announced for the Super Bowl LX halftime show
- Yahoo: where is the Super Bowl halftime announcement, and what we know
- TV Insider: the Apple Music halftime leak, debunked
Book before the name drops
The announcement is the moment Los Angeles hotel rates and party tickets move. If you are going, the cheapest version of this trip is the one you book before the NFL says a word.
We update this page the day it is confirmed. To get that alert along with the party listings that follow it, join the weekly list, or browse what is already locked in on our Super Bowl week calendar.
