Super Bowl LVIII is taking place on Sunday, February 11 in Las Vegas. Sin City. Chiefs-Niners. The best player in the game (and fine Texan) in Patrick Mahomes. Prestige franchises. Thirty-second commercials that run a reported $7 million a pop.
There’s Taylor Swift. And Travis Kelce. There’s the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce backlash. And the backlash to the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce backlash. It’s gonna be a time, and hey, there will even be a football game taking place amidst all the hysteria.
There’s also going to be a halftime show. Usher is headlining. I like Usher. “You Make Me Wanna…” still goes, and I’m sure we’ll get Ludacris and Lil Jon for “Yeah!” That said, Usher was not the first choice to play the Super Bowl halftime show. Hell, Usher knows he was not the first choice to play the Super Bowl halftime show. Regardless, Usher is awesome, and he’ll put on a great show.
But we are a people that can’t really live in the moment, and damn if we’ll start now. In short, who among those who have not headlined the Super Bowl yet are on tap to play the big game next year in New Orleans, or maybe somewhere down the road? More importantly, what are the chances they’d actually do it?
The NFL has already invited the multi-platinum diva to play the halftime show. She declined, and this makes sense. While unequivocally one of the best singers the world has ever seen, Adele admittedly isn’t really a performer, which is kind of a requirement for an audience of 100-million-plus. So, this feels a long shot. Now, might Adele one day pop up in a cameo or guest capacity? Perhaps, and even that would have to be in support of someone she really respects. But, as the lead performer, feels unlikely.
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny actually guested alongside featured performers Jennifer Lopez and Shakira as part of the 2020 Super Bowl, and that was a great show. It’s time to step it up; Bad Bunny is an excellent performer whose show is tailor-made for the Super Bowl. This feels like something that will happen in the next few years, particularly as the NFL attempts to expand its international reach. Why not have one of the biggest pop stars in the world – the first non-English act in history to be Spotify’s most streamed artist of the year (three years in a row!) – help with that expansion?
Justin Bieber
This one is simple – does Bieber want it? If he does, book it. But it’s not that easy. Bieber has endured some health issues in recent years, gotten married and settled down a bit, which is one of the reasons Usher (his mentor) is reportedly having trouble getting the “Sorry” singer to join him for this year’s halftime show. Really hoping this one happens. Bieber is a transcendent talent with a bevy of hits, and his show is in absolute alignment with what the NFL and its partners want out of the halftime show.
Country Mash-up
This actually happened in 1994, when Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt and the Judds headlined Super Bowl XXVIII in Atlanta. Let’s run it back and step it up a notch. Morgan Wallen. Zach Bryan. Luke Combs. Lainey Wilson. Get them in a room, devise a song exchange, perhaps a cameo from a legend like Garth Brooks, and you’ve got a memory. Naysayers would claim that country doesn’t have the reach of more traditional pop acts. Not entirely true. After all, Wallen (not Taylor Swift) had the biggest selling album of 2023, per MRC Data.
Drake
Save for the 2022 Super Bowl – when Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent put on an absolute clinic in what a halftime show should be – the NFL has for the most part shied away from hip-hop at the big game. This should change. Not only is Drake one of the most popular and famous artists on the planet; he has seemingly collaborated with everyone. So not only do you get a hit-filled show; you get star-studded cameos. It’s time for the NFL to go from zero to 100.
Metallica
This should have happened already (frontman James Hetfield agrees), when Super Bowl 50 took place in the band’s native Bay Area. Hetfield and crew seem to think the time has passed for one of the biggest bands in history to play the halftime show, and maybe it has. That said, Metallica are pioneers, so why not add to that list by being the first hard rock band to headline the biggest show in the world? The 2026 Super Bowl is heading back to the Bay Area, and Metallica should be the first call the NFL makes. Will it be? Likely not, and that’s a shame.
Harry Styles
I kinda had Styles as the winner on my 2024 Super Bowl bingo card, and he was reportedly in the mix. The NFL and its partners have made strides in recent years to go a bit younger with the Super Bowl halftime show, so why not get a 30-year-old pop star who is in the absolute prime of his career? Styles is a talented artist and showman, one who would also no doubt bring some eyes to the show who might not otherwise watch the game at all. Feels like a logical partnership over the next few years.
Taylor Swift
Ah, Taylor, where do we start? She will be at the game in support of Chiefs tight end and boyfriend Travis Kelce; she just won’t be performing at the game. Pre-Eras Tour, this felt like a lock. The world’s biggest pop star, arguably the most famous person on the planet. The world’s biggest stage. Epic show. Hits. Cameos. Can’t miss. Post-Eras Tour, not so much. Taylor now routinely sells out football stadiums. She’s the hottest ticket in music. She’s a brand, an icon. The Super Bowl halftime show affords publicity and notoriety; Taylor Swift lacks for neither. She no longer needs this type of stage. A definite bummer, as this would have been an all-time halftime show before a record audience, but it feels like if the NFL was going to get Taylor, they needed to do so about 3-4 years ago. As Taylor once famously sang, “everything has changed."
