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Kendrick Lamar's Performance at Super Bowl LIX Is Most Watched Halftime Show Ever
It's been hard not to see Kendrick Lamar's electric Super Bowl LIX halftime performance on social media since Sunday. Clips of his song "Not Like Us," specifically the iconic "Say, Drake" line, along with the superstar cameos of Samuel L. Jackson, SZA and Serena Williams have flooded social media timelines.
The rapper indeed made history. Roc Nation announced that his halftime show is now the most-watched Super Bowl performance of all time with a monster 133.5 million viewers, dethroning Michael Jackson's longstanding record of 133.4 million viewers in 1993.
This is an incredible feat for Lamar, as he was the first solo rapper to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
We’ve broken the record again! The most watched Apple Music Halftime show EVER, with 133.5 Million viewers. pic.twitter.com/CfRQGUuG31
— Roc Nation (@RocNation) February 11, 2025
The 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner's performance is already ranking high on many fans' lists of best halftime shows of all-time. His five-time Grammy winning song "Not Like Us" stole the show for many viewers, which is famously a diss track written for fellow rapper Drake. Lamar sang a total of 12 songs during his performance.
While his show wasn't over the top in terms of stage production, Lamar still executed impactful messages with powerful imagery created by his dancers. During his song "Humble," for instance, the dancers created an American flag, which was then split down the middle for Lamar to stand.
The halftime show definitely had people interested to watch and talk about it. We'll see who the NFL chooses to headline the show next year at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
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Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.