The eyes of essentially the entire country are about to descend on the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The site of Super Bowl 59 is going to be a historic evening as the Kansas City Chiefs try to complete the first-ever 3-peat in the Super Bowl era. At the same time, the Philadelphia Eagles look to exact revenge from two seasons ago.
But, beyond the football, it also promises to be an evening of excitement, glitz, and glamour, as one of the biggest stars in the music industry today, Kendrick Lamar, hits the stage for the legendary Super Bowl Halftime show. But when does he get the show started?
When Does the Super Bowl Halftime Show Begin?
The game itself kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET as the NFL stars take center stage on the gridiron. Typically, one half of football lasts one and a half to two hours. Once the first half concludes, fans will be treated to Lamar’s Halftime performance.
That puts the best-case scenario for the musical spectacle to begin around 8-8:15 PM ET and be available to watch on FOX, which will air Super Bowl 59 on its television channel and Tubi.
Lamar headlines the show and has only announced one guest so far: SZA as a special act. The two have collaborated multiple times before and were even signed to the same agency, Top Dawg Entertainment, when SZA began her career.
The rapper is on the run of a lifetime right now. In 2024, he had one of the best years of his career, and for a former Pulitzer Award winner, that is certainly saying something.
His feud with Drake spawned his latest album, GNX, and gave birth to platinum hits like “TV Off,” “Luther,” and “Squabble Up.” However, his singles from the feud, “Like That,” “Euphoria,” and “Not Like Us,” were summertime hits. At the 2025 Grammy Awards, he was decorated with awards, winning five Grammys for “Not Like Us.”
It has brought his collection of Grammys to 22, the third-most for a Rapper in history. Alongside the Pulitzer and the Grammy, his collaboration with SZA for “All the Stars” on the Black Panther album earned the two of them an Academy Award as well.
It brought her into the mainstream after garnering initial success from her debut album, “Ctrl.” “SOS,” released in 2023, was a milestone achievement for her as well, as she won Best R&B Song for “Snooze” from the album at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Lamar has promised to keep “storytelling” the focus of his performance, something he believes he’s prized throughout his storied career. “I’ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music.”
“And I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on, whether it’s a world tour or whether it’s 500 people at Key Club, I’ve always had a form of that. So I like to always carry on that sense of, make people listen, but also see and think a little.”
He also had immense credit and love to give to his fellow performer on Sunday, “For me personally, watching her career and where she’s come from, it’s amazing to see. … She always had it, man. She always had it. And I’m just honored to be next to a talent.”