Five Artists Who Could Headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show in the Next Decade
Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Written by Jack Butler-Terry
Having been announced for Super Bowl LIX’s halftime show — set to take place on February 9, 2025 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans — Kendrick Lamar is poised to join one of the most elite clubs in music, following in the footsteps of Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, The Rolling Stones and last year’s headliner, Usher. The Compton rap titan has already had a taste of that rarefied air after guesting with Dr. Dre at Super Bowl LVI two years ago, but he’s now tasked with creating some iconic moments of his own.
Of course as the Super Bowl is an annual event, bringing the curtain down on the NFL season, there are many huge names yet to headline what has become one of the year’s most talked about musical events, up there with Glastonbury or Coachella. Foo Fighters have famously been turning it down for years and Red Hot Chilli Peppers have been the rumoured stars on numerous occasions. The Who and The Rolling Stones, meanwhile, were only invited to play deep into their careers.
Here we compile five artists who would be superb picks to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in the next decade. Luckily for you, they’re all on tour right now.
Imagine Dragons
One of the biggest radio rock bands of the 21st Century, Imagine Dragons boast a bold catalogue of stadium-sized earworms, plus a phenomenal live show to match. It’s no wonder, then, that they have previously been approached, but frontman Dan Reynolds has spoken candidly in the past about how the show’s strict rules on playing live has meant that they’ve had to turn it down. Consummate professionals through and through, the band are more interested in playing live at the Super Bowl rather than performing to pre-recorded tracks. While there’s no movement on that ruling right now, here’s hoping that Imagine Dragons can one day bring the lightning and the thunder in the way that they want. Before then, their Loom World Tour will feature two shows at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Killers
It seemed for all the world that The Killers would headline the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023 when the big game came to their home state of Nevada but, instead, that honour went to Usher. With The Killers’ track record of massive anthems, the likes of Somebody Told Me, Human and The Man have already won over stadiums all over the world and frontman Brandon Flowers has more than enough stage presence and charisma to be a winning choice for a global broadcast. Whenever they do get picked though, you can count on one thing: Mr. Brightside will still be in the charts. The Killers are currently finishing up some US shows and will head to Australia before the year is out.
Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo’s certainly started building a cast iron case to play at the Super Bowl some day. The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series alum already has two chart-topping records under her belt in ‘Sour’ and ‘Guts’, while tracks such as Drivers License, Good 4 U and Vampire have been impossible to avoid. Still only 21 and really in the formative years of her career, if she keeps on this stratospheric trajectory, organisers may want to book her before it’s too late. With touring ongoing behind ‘Guts’, Rodrigo has a series of Australian shows in the diary following dates in Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the Philippines.
Nicki Minaj
Currently on the road in the US, Nicki Minaj has already played the Super Bowl as one of Madonna’s special guests way back in 2012. Then, she had just one album and a handful of mixtapes to her name and, while her stock was high, it was just a drop in the bucket of her global domination these days. With a deep pool of hits to choose from, whether it’s Starships or Anaconda, or collab tracks with Ariana Grande, Lil Wayne and Drake, there’s more than enough star power on her side. Now if she can just make up with Super Bowl halftime show producer Jay-Z, we may actually see her headline one day…
Post Malone
The New York genre-masher has been unstoppable in recent years, topping global charts with four of his six albums to date, including his most recent release, ‘F-1 Trillion’. Post Malone’s ability to switch between trap, rock and country gives him phenomenal mass appeal, while his track record with featured artists only gives his pick more credence, with the likes of Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and 21 Savage all in his phonebook. His appearance on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter can’t have hurt his chances, either, and it certainly feels like we’ll see him at the Super Bowl sooner rather than later, whether that’s as a guest or on his own merit. Posty is touring the US throughout the coming months.
Imagine Dragons Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri July 25 2025 - LONDON Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Sat July 26 2025 - LONDON Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
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