With Super Bowl LIX behind us, it is time to start looking ahead to Super Bowl LX.
Yes, the participants in that game might be predetermined (if you believe in the Super Bowl Logo Conspiracy, in which case James Dator has you covered here) but what about the halftime show?
Who is going to follow in Kendrick Lamar’s footsteps next year?
We have some ideas.
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny is the most popular artist in the WORLD, and has a bevy of bangers to go through in a 12-minute halftime show. I know that there’s a bit of ambivalence with Bad Bunny considering all his songs are in Spanish, but we’ve seen Latin artists do great halftime shows, and Bad Bunny has enough music to truly do one by himself.
Future
Hearing “March Madness” in a stadium live would heal me. “Drink N Dance” in a live stadium setting would do numbers on my brain.
blink-182
blink-182 almost seems more popular now than they did when I was in seventh grade 25 years ago. Mark, Tom, and Travis have been selling out stadiums around the world since reuniting, and they have the combination of mass appeal and smash hits necessary to headline the Super Bowl. The first time anyone heard “Feeling This,” lead single off their 2003 masterwork self-titled album, was when it debuted on the Madden 2004 soundtrack (then called “Action”). The boys’ hometown of San Diego no longer has an NFL team, but they still count as a California band for a California Super Bowl. I think this could work. Please let Turnstile open up again.
Morgan Wallen featuring Jelly Roll with special guest Kid Rock
Admit it.
If you took a stroll through certain corners of the internet after Kendrick’s halftime show, you know where things are probably headed.
This is not to say that Wallen does not have some catchy songs, as he does. As does Jelly Roll. We’ll reserve judgment on Kid Rock’s catalog for the moment …
The only question will be if Peyton Manning recreates this as part of Wallen’s walkout:
A tribute to the San Francisco music scene
When the NFL held Super Bowl in Los Angeles a few seasons ago, the halftime show was a celebration of hip hop and rap, featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. Scenes from Los Angeles featured prominently in the show, which became the first Super Bowl halftime show to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
With Super Bowl LX slated to take place at Levi’s Stadium outside San Francisco, we could see a tribute to San Francisco’s music history. That would feature groups like Jefferson Airplane, Journey, Steve Miller Band, and The Grateful Dead in the early days, bringing the show through the years with bands like Metallica, Third Eye Blind, Counting Crows, and more recently artists like E-40.
Chris Stapleton
The NFL and Chris Stapleton have an existing relationship. The bluegrass-turned-country star collaborated with Snoop Dogg on the new Monday Night Football theme a few seasons ago, and sang the National Anthem prior to Super Bowl LVII which you can see here:
Look Coach Sirianni, I get it …
A halftime show seems like a logical next step.
Luke Bryan
Bryan is one of the most successful country singers of all-time, but that’s not why he is on the list. Bryan’s profile has risen considerably in the last six years as a judge on American Idol. He has a prolific catalog of stadium jams and would appeal to a different group of fans than the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show. There hasn’t been a country music headliner since 2003 (Shania Twain).
Dua Lipa
Only one of the last four Super Bowl halftime shows featured pop music with Kendrick Lamar (rap), Usher (R&B), and Dr. Dre’s rap collaboration and you have to go back to 2020 to get a pure pop halftime show. It’s time to go back to bright pop jams, and Dua Lipa has the body of work and vision to get the job done. She has a huge collection of fun dance bangers and would definitely bring out a few special guests to her halftime party.
Miley Cyrus
Cyrus could put together one heckuva star-studded halftime show with all of her collaborators through the years and has a huge catalog of pop hits to choose from. She performed at the tailgate party before the 2021 Super Bowl in Tampa. Cyrus is among the odds-on favorites.
Foo Fighters
It’s actually ridiculous that we haven’t seen the Foo Fighters perform a Super Bowl halftime show as they check all the boxes for that the NFL looks for in a band: Wide appeal, plenty of bangers, guaranteed to be inoffensive. Couple this with the fact that they’re still selling out stadiums worldwide, and this would be a nice ode to Taylor Hawkins and it all makes sense here.
We haven’t had a true rock band play the halftime show since 2010 (yes, 2010), when The Who performed. We’re overdue. Dave Grohl and Co. make a lot of sense.
Oasis
For the time being Liam and Noel Gallagher have decided they like money more than punching each other, and 2025 marks the reunion tour for Oasis. This will probably be the only time in history the NFL could book this as the halftime show before the brothers start fighting again and the band disappears for another 20+ years.
It also panders to England and NFL expansion. Makes too much sense.
Drake
Give him a chance to respond, maybe?
Although after what we just saw, he might want to lay low for a year or ten.
Post Malone
The greatest trick the NFL has ever pulled is convincing the country that they are whatever that specific consumer wants them to be. Sometimes they care about things and people. Sometimes they are a capitalistic beacon. Sometimes they are just fun. Who else does that sound like?
That’s right, Post Malone has done a little bit of everything and can genre-bend to fit almost every set of ears (except for angry uncles, they are unreachable). It also opens the door to guest appearances, something the lazy have derided Kendrick Lamar for. Post Malone’s music is generally good, generally fun, and he’s generally well known between his music and flurry of commercials. He is basically the Super Bowl in human form.
