NFL Super Bowl LVI half-time show to feature a stunning line-up of artists

The NFL and Roc Nation announced that three Southern California natives and rap titans — Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar would share headlining duties with Eminem and Mary J. Blige at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show. Super Bowl LVI will be televised live on NBC on Sunday, February 13, 2022 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. It can also be streamed live with Peacock and the NBC Sports App.

The celebration of West Coast hip-hop in one of music’s most visible gigs is fitting for Super Bowl LVI, which will be held in Los Angeles for the first time in nearly three decades.

“The opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, and to do it in my own backyard, will be one of the biggest thrills of my career,” Dre said in a statement, vowing “an unforgettable cultural moment.” 

“Artists like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg were at the forefront of the West Coast hip hop revolution, so to be able to bring them back to L.A., where it all began alongside Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar will prove to be an epic, unforgettable celebration of the impact hip hop has today,” Todd Kaplan, vice president of marketing at Pepsi (which is once again sponsoring the halftime show) added to Variety. “We are thrilled to bring together such an incredible array of talented, record-breaking musicians to put on a performance for the ages.”

The event will not only be the first time that hip-hop truly takes center stage for football’s biggest night, but it’s also the first time that this particular line-up of stars has ever performed together on the same stage.

Jay-Z, who produces the halftime show with Roc Nation, gushed about the roster, “Dr. Dre, a musical visionary from Compton, Snoop Dogg, an icon from Long Beach and Kendrick Lamar, a young musical pioneer in his own right, also from Compton, will take center field for a performance of a lifetime. They will be joined by the lyrical genius Eminem and the timeless Queen Mary J. Blige… This is history in the making.”

Most Super Bowl Halftime Show performances run about 15 minutes long, although the actual halftime (between when the Super Bowl’s second quarter ends and third quarter kicks off) tends to last 20 to 30 minutes.

Fans were generally stoked at the line-up. The five music artists have a combined 44 Grammys. Eminem has the most with 15.

Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Blige and Lamar join a list of celebrated musicians who have played during Super Bowl half-time shows, including Beyonce, Madonna, Coldplay, Katy Perry, U2, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and most recently The Weeknd.

The halftime show for Super Bowl 56 will be the third produced by Roc Nation, the entertainment and sports company started by the music impresario Jay-Z, as the N.F.L. pushes to modernize the show and appeal to a more diverse audience. The Super Bowl is typically the most watched broadcast of the year, despite ratings declining in five of the past six years.

It remains uncertain what the exact set list will be when Dre, Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. and Snoop perform together at halftime. That said, we might expect a medley featuring all of the artists’ biggest hits that Dre produced or collaborated on with them as a rapper. These may include Blige’s “Family Affair,” Eminem’s “Forgot About Dre,” Lamar’s “The Recipe,” and any number of songs with Snoop, including “Gin and Juice” and “What’s My Name?”

—Silviya. Y