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Rb Hip Hop

Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show Is Now the Most-Watched of All Time

Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show had 133.5 million viewers, drawing a larger audience than the Super Bowl itself and Michael Jackson's legendary 1993 halftime show performance.

Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show is officially the most-watched halftime show performance of all time, Roc Nation, Apple Music and the NFL announced on Tuesday (Feb. 11).

“We’ve broken the record again! The most watched Apple Music Halftime show EVER, with 133.5 Million viewers,” the companies wrote on Instagram. Lamar’s halftime show performance drew a larger audience than the Big Game itself, which Fox Sports reported had an average of 126 million viewers. The Philadelphia Eagles emerged victorious over the Kansas City Chiefs during Sunday’s (Feb. 9) broadcast, with a final score of 40 to 22.


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Lamar, who also made history as the first solo rapper to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show, also edged out Michael Jackson’s legendary 1993 performance, which drew 133.4 million viewers. His performance also got more eyes than last year’s headliner Usher, who had 123.4 million viewers.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning MC brought out all the stars, from Samuel L. Jackson to SZA to Serena Williams to Mustard, and mostly performed songs from his 2024 Billboard 200-topping LP GNX, like his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Squabble Up,” “Peekaboo,” “Luther” (with SZA) and “TV Off.” And, of course, he brough his five-time Grammy-winning smash “Not Like Us” to the world’s biggest stage for the ultimate checkmate in his epic rap beef with Drake, who once rapped “Big as the Super Bowl” in “First Person Shooter.”

Dot and SZA will be taking over more stadiums in the world than New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome when the dynamic duo embarks on their Grand National Tour in April, with a U.K. and Europe leg slated for July.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

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Ludacris performs onstage at Shaq’s Fun House held at Mardi Gras World on February 7, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Christopher Polk/Variety

Ludacris performs onstage at Shaq’s Fun House held at Mardi Gras World on February 7, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Country

Ludacris Exits Rock the Country Lineup Following Fan Backlash

The rapper was originally announced as part of the lineup earlier this month.

Ludacris has spent years “Pimpin’ All Over The World,” but he won’t be doing so on the Rock the Country tour this summer.

On Friday (Jan. 16), Rolling Stone reported that the Grammy-winning rapper’s name had been removed from the lineup announcement poster. According to the magazine, the “My Chick Bad” MC “wasn’t supposed to be on” the lineup in the first place. Representatives for the traveling festival confirmed the news, directing Billboard to Ludacris’ team “for any additional comments.”

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