The Halftime Festivities are Set for the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
Super Bowl LIX is proving to be an ensemble performance bill as this year’s headliner Kendrick Lamar recently announced the guest artists joining him on the halftime stage.
Writer Jaelani Turner-Williams, in their 2025 article for Complex, “Kendrick Lamar Announces SZA as Special Guest for Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in New Trailer,” writes, “joining Kendrick Lamar for his headlining Super Bowl LIX Apple Music Halftime Show performance will be none other than SZA… just three months ahead of the artists’ 19-city Grand National Tour, on Thursday (Jan. 23), Kendrick dropped a teaser that SZA will be a guest performer on the Caesars Superdome field.”
A Long-Standing Creative Partnership
The 17-time Grammy winner was announced as the headliner in late 2024. SZA and Lamar are both long-time friends and collaborators. Among their many music outputs, the biggest to date is “All The Stars,” the theme song for the 2018 action film Black Panther. Both Lamar and SZA received “Best Original Song” nominations at the 76th Golden Globe Awards and 91st Academy Awards ceremonies, respectively.
Kendrick Lamar: A Thought-Provoking Storyteller
Beyond being a prolific rapper and songwriter, Lamar is also a thought-provoking storyteller whose work reflects social and cultural commentary. His 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly is highly regarded as a music thesis on the African American experience.
Writer Gregory Dale, in his 2020 article for Revolt, “‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ remains an important display of the life and struggles of modern-day Black America,” writes, “‘To Pimp A Butterfly’s takes on race and the issues plaguing black people became the most impactful aspects of the album following its release…beyond the critical and commercial success, the album was important because it came at a critical moment in American history. It’s the masterpiece that modern generations of black people needed.”
Performances with a Message
Lamar is no stranger to incorporating social commentary into his live performances either. His performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards was culturally lauded as a bold statement on mass incarceration. That same year, he made another iconic performance at the 2016 BET Awards with the performance of “Freedom,” his collaboration with artist and icon Beyoncé off her 2016 album Lemonade.
Much anticipation will be in what Kendrick Lamar will create and perform during Super Bowl LIX. This performance, at a time of great social, cultural, and political contentions, will cement Lamar as an artist who never fails to reflect the times.
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