Jay-Z reportedly picks himself for Super Bowl LXI halftime show, Cyrus and Bieber miss out
Jay-Z did not have to look far for the performer for the Super Bowl halftime show — the rap star has reportedly selected himself to take the stage at Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, just outside Los Angeles.
According to Puck News, Jay-Z gave the nod to himself over Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, who were reportedly considered finalists for the halftime slot. TMZ previously reported that Harry Styles was also among the frontrunners for February's halftime performance.
Jay-Z and his entertainment company Roc Nation have been the producers and decision-makers of the Super Bowl halftime show since 2019 — so this year's reported decision comes from the very insider who runs the show.
The 25-time Grammy Award winner, 56, has never performed at the Super Bowl himself. His wife Beyoncé, however, headlined the halftime show in 2013 in New Orleans, and also made a guest appearance on stage during the 2016 Super Bowl in Santa Clara alongside Bruno Mars and Coldplay.
Jay-Z is currently on his four-city 'Jay-Z 30' tour, celebrating the 30th anniversary of his 1996 debut album 'Reasonable Doubt'. Puck reported that he grossed more than $42 million across three consecutive nights of shows at Yankee Stadium in July.
The tour will wrap up at SoFi Stadium itself, with back-to-back shows on 23 and 24 October — meaning he will have performed at the very venue months before the Super Bowl halftime appearance.
Jay-Z last released an album in June 2017, titled '4:44', although he recently re-released his 2000 single 'I Just Wanna Love U'.
The first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Jay-Z has 50.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, ranking him 71st among the most-listened-to artists on the music streaming service.
The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the biggest single stages in world entertainment. If the producer's reported decision to step onto that stage himself proves true, it will be one of the most talked-about chapters of Jay-Z's long career.
