Lady Gaga just confirmed what we knew to be true: She will be the headliner at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Gaga announced her official involvement with a tweet. This will be her second Super Bowl performance in a row; she performed the anthem at the last one. Her new album, Joanne, will be out October 21.
It's not an illusion. The rumors are true. This year the SUPER BOWL goes GAGA! @nfl @FOXTV @pepsi #PERFECTILLUSION #GAGASUPERBOWL pic.twitter.com/qR4O57451G
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) September 30, 2016
This article was originally published on September 18, 2016.
Twitter was aflutter earlier today after news broke that Lady Gaga would be headlining the Super Bowl halftime show. Us Weekly reported that the Joanne singer "has officially signed on to perform at the 51st annual football championship event at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017."
The only issue is, someone forgot to tell the NFL. PR SVP Natalie Ravitz more or less flatly denied that a decision had been finalized in a tweet calling out the publication for ignoring her comment.
.@usweekly ignored my on record response: we've had conversations w several fantastic artists about SB Halftime Show but no final decision
— Natalie Ravitz (@NFLNatalie) September 18, 2016
All that said: Lady Gaga is totally going to headline the halftime show. The "Perfect Illusion" singer has a history with the league, having performed the national anthem at Super Bowl 50. The choice would also jibe with the game's recent history. Recently, the halftime show is a venue for a counterprogrammed option for people that are watching the game for the commercials. So Gaga would be a perfect choice, especially if her new album skews as rock-heavy as it seems it will.
Of course, the league could really break with tradition and schedule a rapper. Maybe Kanye? It should totally be Kanye.