Usher has backed Metallica as the next halftime show for the Super Bowl, adding momentum to the pick.
With Super Bowl LX only a handful of months away, speculation on who will follow up Kendrick Lamar’s viral show from this year has only started to grow.
At the forefront of speculation is metal’s own Metallica, which started when the Super Bowl was announced to take place at Levi Stadium in San Francisco, Metallica’s adopted hometown.
Last month, drummer Lars Ulrich mentioned to Howard Stern that the band would jump at the chance to play the show.
“I’m not going to confirm anything, because there’s nothing to confirm. But I’m not going to deny it, because we’re all such fans of this venue,” said Ulrich. “All of our managers and our production people have been there and looked at it. It’s something that we’re considering, [but] nothing is etched in stone or green-lit.”
So, as they say in football, the ball is in the league’s court.
Adding momentum to the movement, previous Super Bowl performer Usher announced that he thought the metal band should be picked. The R&B star, who performed at the 2024 Super Bowl, was asked by TMZ on the streets who he’d like to see take the stage in San Francisco. Quickly, the singer replied “Metallica” before driving away.
Metallica isn’t too out of left field for a pick. While the band would be the heaviest act to ever perform at the football event, the Super Bowl has had The Who, Slash and Aerosmith perform. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be too strong a leap for arguably one of the most celebrated and recognised metal bands to perform.
A knock against Metallica’s chances of being picked comes from speculation that, in fact, Taylor Swift is the current front-runner. Given the pop star’s recent engagement to Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, social media speculates that the NFL will want to leverage that connection. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has added fuel to the fire and dropped hints of a potential Taylor Swift halftime show.
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