Kendrick Lamar makes history at Super Bowl

Kendrick Lamar became the first-ever solo rapper to headline the Super Bowl halftime show during last night’s championship game at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

A week after his sweep at the Grammy Awards, the American rapper delivered a 13-minute medley of greatest hits including Humble, Squabble Up and the smash Drake diss track Not Like Us to cap the halftime show, sponsored by Apple Music.

Lamar was expected to have reached more than 120 million TV viewers who had tuned in to see the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22, denying them an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl.

Emceed by actor Samuel L Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam, Lamar’s performance featured special guests SZA on tracks Luther and All The Stars, and tennis star Serena Williams, who performed the Crip Walk – a notorious Los Angeles dance move.

Not Like Us, the Drake diss track which has earned Lamar one billion streams on Spotify and five Grammy Awards, was deemed the pinnacle of the performance by critics. It comes as Drake’s lawyers sue Lamar’s record label Universal Music Group over the track, accusing it of trying to “create a viral hit” out of a song that made “false factual allegations” about the star.

Lamar was expected to have reached more than 120 million TV viewers

Another talking point of the performance was at the climax of the 13-minute set, when a protester climbed on top of Lamar’s black Buick GNX car and unfurled a combined Palestinian and Sudanese flag, before being tackled by security officers. The NFL later said in a statement that the protester was part of the 400-member cast who took part in the show.

Since 2020, the Super Bowl halftime show has been produced in collaboration with Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation, which has brought headliners including Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Eminem, Rihanna and Usher.

Super Bowl LIX also featured artists including Lady Gaga, who kicked off the championship game with a special tribute to New Orleans, Jon Baptiste, who performed the National Anthem, and Post Malone who headlined the Super Bowl 2025 Tailgate Concert.

Following their Super Bowl halftime performance, Kendrick Lamar and SZA today announced a UK and Europe leg of their Grand National Tour.

The outing, presented by Live Nation, pgLang and Top Dawg Entertainment, will take over 13 stadiums across Europe and the United Kingdom this summer. The list of fresh tour dates includes:

Jun 10 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field

Jun 12 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre

Jun 16 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium

Jun 18 – Washington, DC – Northwest Stadium

Jul 2 – Cologne, Germany – RheinEnergieSTADION

Jul 4 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park

Jul 8 – Glasgow, UK – Hampden Park

Jul 10 – Birmingham, UK – Villa Park

Jul 13 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA

Jul 15 – Paris, France – Paris La Défense Arena

Jul 19 – Cardiff, UK – Principality Stadium

Jul 22 – London, UK – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Jul 27 – Lisbon, Portugal – Estadio do Restelo

Jul 30 – Barcelona, Spain – Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys

Aug 2 – Rome, Italy – Stadio Olimpico

Aug 6 – Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy

Aug 9 – Stockholm, Sweden – 3Arena

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