Jennifer Lopez, Shakira to Headline 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Will Thorne

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It’s a pretty great time to be Jennifer Lopez.

Fresh off her much buzzed performance in the movie “Hustlers,” the multi-talented performer has announced she will be hosting the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show alongside Shakira.

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The duo follow in the recent footsteps of Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga, who have headlined the biggest show on American TV. Super Bowl LIV will take place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Feb. 2, 2020.

The news came via the two singers’ social media, and was swiftly followed by confirmation from the NFL’s official account. The booking of two Latinx performers ties in well with the Super Bowl’s 2020 host city of Miami. Although Lopez is originally from the Bronx and Shakira from Colombia, Miami is widely recognized as the global capital of the Latin music business.

The booking also bears the fingerprints of Jay-Z, who surprised many by announcing a partnership between the NFL and his Roc Nation company over the summer, which encompasses entertainment — including the Super Bowl halftime show — and social-justice endeavors. The move came as a surprise because Jay had previously harshly criticized the NFL for its treatment of Colin Kaepernick and other players who knelt during the National Anthem as a symbol of protest.

Jay-Z was likely instrumental in bringing Lopez and Shakira to the stage in 2020 — the latter performer is managed by Roc Nation — and his involvement with the league has made performing during the Super Bowl much less problematic for recording artists.

Indeed, the last two Super Bowl halftime performers, Maroon 5 and Justin Timberlake, received no small amount of criticism for what amounted to an endorsement of the NFL — as did Jay-Z, although both he and the league have positioned him as an agent of change.

Maroon 5 in particular received a wave of harsh criticism for their appearance, which was not even confirmed until just a few weeks before the 2019 Super Bowl, and only after the group had lined up two performers of color — Travis Scott and Big Boi — to take the stage with them. The group’s halftime performance was widely considered to be unspectacular.

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