Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance becomes the most-watched ever
Kendrick Lamar's recent Super Bowl performance was all anyone could talk about—thanks to his now sold-out flared jeans and Not Like Us performance. But the news is that his halftime show is officially the most-watched in history.
In a joint post by Roc Nation, Apple Music, and the National Football League, Lamar was revealed to have garnered nearly 140 million viewers live during the event.
"We’ve broken the record again! The most watched Apple Music Halftime show EVER, with 133.5 Million viewers," the companies wrote in their post, adding that the views were up by 3% compared to last year.
In his performance, the rapper's setlist included songs such as GNX (Preview Song), Squabble Up, Humble, DNA, Euphoria, Man at the Garden, Peekaboo, Luther, All The Stars, Not Like Us, and TV Off.
He was joined by Samuel L. Jackson serving as emcee and dressed like "Uncle Sam," as well as singer-songwriter SZA, who performed a slow-jam duet with him as they sang Luther and All the Stars. Former tennis player Serena Williams also made a cameo during his performance of Not Like Us.
This milestone adds to Lamar's achievement of being the first solo rapper to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The event was previously led by pop and R&B singer Usher, who garnered 123.4 million viewers.
Lamar previously opened up about how he had never imagined he would perform at the Super Bowl when he was starting. In 2022, he appeared as a featured performer in a hip-hop showcase but this will be his first headline show.
"I wasn't thinking about no Super Bowl—I was thinking about the best verse... It wasn't no Super Bowl," he said.
"What I know is the passion I have now is still the passion I had then."
According to Billboard, his explosive halftime performance also led to him getting 70.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, which is a 153% increase from his previous total of 27.5 million on Feb. 3.
Some of the songs that had the most growth in streams are part of his most recent album, GNX, including Squabble Up, Luther, TV Off, and Peekaboo.
The Super Bowl took place on Feb. 10 (Philippine time) and saw The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs in a 40-22 result.
