Everyone who has turned down the Super Bowl halftime show as Jay-Z confirmed as 2027 headliner

It was reported that both Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber were in talks to perform at the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show, but Jay-Z has given the huge job to himself.

After weeks of speculation, the news was confirmed in a joint announcement by Roc Nation (the entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008), the NFL, and Apple Music ahead of the NFL’s Monday night game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.

"From Reasonable Doubt to standing on the Super Bowl Halftime stage, this has been a journey," Jay-Z said in a statement.

"Thirty years of music, work, and culture on the world’s biggest stage. This run continues to be a dream come true."

The 2027 Super Bowl will take place on February 14 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

Jay-Z is doing the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show (Ezra Shaw - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Those who have been given the highly sought after slot in recent years include Kendrick Lamar, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, The Weeknd, and Bad Bunny.

While you'd think it would be a no-brainer do the Super Bowl if invited, there's actually been a handful of stars who have said they're not interested in doing it (some of whom went on to change their minds).

Rihanna

Rihanna initially turned down the opportunity to do the Super Bowl halftime show (Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty Images)

You might be scratching your head here as it's well known that Rihanna did the Super Bowl in 2023, during which she announced her second pregnancy, but there was a time the 'Diamonds' hitmaker declined to do it.

Speaking to Vogue in 2019, Rihanna shared that she'd said no to doing the halftime show. She did it in solidarity of Colin Kaepernick, who was the first person to take the knee during the US national anthem as a protest racial inequality and police brutality in America. He then alleged that he was blacklisted by the NFL.

Rihanna told Vogue that she didn't want to be a 'sellout' following the apparent treatment of Kaepernick.

"I couldn’t dare do that," she said of doing the halftime show. "For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way."

She went on to do the show in 2023 but admitted that there was 'still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes'.

Adele

Adele apparently said no the halftime show because she 'can't dance' (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for AD)

Apparently the 'Easy On Me' singer was asked to do the 2017 halftime show, but she said no. Instead, Lady Gaga got the gig.

She addressed her decision to turn it down to an audience at LA's Staples Center in August 2016, says E! News.

Adele said at the time: "First of all, I’m not doing the Super Bowl. I mean, come on, that show is not about music. I can’t dance or anything like that. They were very kind, they did ask me, but I said no."

The NFL went on to deny that she'd been asked to perform.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is yet to do the Super Bowl halftime show (Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)

With the huge catalog of songs Swift has, she'd arguably be the perfect halftime performer – but she's yet to grace the stage.

One of the key reasons she hasn't done the halftime show is because she was the face of Diet Coke between 2013 to 2018, and the show is famously a Pepsi production.

After her ties to Coke ended, Swift was reportedly too occupied rerecording her songs that she'd made for Big Machine Records.

She then started dating Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, whom she wed in July, making the waters murky for her once again.

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton, who died on August 25, had been asked numerous times to do the show (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

The late, great Parton was apparently offered the gig 'many times' but she always declined.

Explaining why, she told The Hollywood Reporter back in 2023: "I couldn’t do it because of other things, or I just didn’t think I was big enough to do it—to do that big of a production.

"When you think about those shows, those are big, big productions. I’ve never done anything with that big of a production. I don’t know if I could have. I think at the time that’s what I was thinking."

Pink

Pink said those who do the halftime show end up being 'persecuted' (John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images)

Grammy Award-winning singer Pink is known for putting on a show, but doing it at the Super Bowl hasn't been of interest to the 47-year-old.

She told Billboard in 2019: "Everybody that does it gets so persecuted."

Pink added: "I’d probably take a knee and get carried out."