Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 show drew 133.5 million US viewers on average, a hair ahead of Michael Jackson’s 1993 set at 133.4 million, with Usher, Bad Bunny and Rihanna next. This ranks only the halftime show’s own Nielsen average audience, not the game around it, and not TV series finales (see the most-watched finales).
Pictured: Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show, #1 with an average US audience of 133.5 million.
| Rank | Year (Super Bowl) | Headliner(s) | Avg US audience (millions) | Game audience (millions) | Halftime vs game | Network, host city | Era | Notable fact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025 (Super Bowl LIX) | Kendrick Lamar | 133.5 | 127.7 | 104.5% | Fox, New Orleans, LA | 2020 and later | With SZA; Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam |
| 2 | 1993 (Super Bowl XXVII) | Michael Jackson | 133.4 | 91.0 | 146.6% | NBC, Pasadena, CA | Before 2010 | Audience rose during halftime, a first |
| 3 | 2024 (Super Bowl LVIII) | Usher | 129.3 | 123.7 | 104.5% | CBS, Las Vegas, NV | 2020 and later | Guests included Alicia Keys, H.E.R. and Lil Jon |
| 4 | 2026 (Super Bowl LX) | Bad Bunny | 128.2 | 124.9 | 102.6% | NBC, Santa Clara, CA | 2020 and later | First Spanish-language set; Lady Gaga guested |
| 5 | 2023 (Super Bowl LVII) | Rihanna | 121.0 | 115.1 | 105.1% | Fox, Glendale, AZ | 2020 and later | No guests; she was pregnant |
| 6 | 2015 (Super Bowl XLIX) | Katy Perry | 118.5 | 114.4 | 103.6% | NBC, Glendale, AZ | 2010-2019 | Left Shark; Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott |
| 7 | 2017 (Super Bowl LI) | Lady Gaga | 117.5 | 111.3 | 105.6% | Fox, Houston, TX | 2010-2019 | Drone-light American flag |
| 8 | 2016 (Super Bowl 50) | Coldplay (with Beyoncé, Bruno Mars) | 115.5 | 111.9 | 103.2% | CBS, Santa Clara, CA | 2010-2019 | Most-watched halftime by a group |
| 9 | 2014 (Super Bowl XLVIII) | Bruno Mars | 115.3 | n/a | n/a | Fox, East Rutherford, NJ | 2010-2019 | Red Hot Chili Peppers guested |
| 10 | 2012 (Super Bowl XLVI) | Madonna | 114.0 | 111.3 | 102.4% | NBC, Indianapolis, IN | 2010-2019 | Drew more viewers than the game itself |
| 11 | 2013 (Super Bowl XLVII) | Beyoncé | 110.8 | 108.7 | 101.9% | CBS, New Orleans, LA | 2010-2019 | Destiny’s Child reunion |
| 12 | 2018 (Super Bowl LII) | Justin Timberlake | 106.6 | 103.4 | 103.1% | NBC, Minneapolis, MN | 2010-2019 | Prince tribute |
| 13 | 2020 (Super Bowl LIV) | Shakira and Jennifer Lopez | 103.0 | 99.9 | 103.1% | Fox, Miami Gardens, FL | 2020 and later | Bad Bunny and J Balvin guested |
| 14 | 2019 (Super Bowl LIII) | Maroon 5 | 99.0 | 98.4 | 100.6% | CBS, Atlanta, GA | 2010-2019 | Travis Scott, Big Boi; SpongeBob tribute |
| 15 | 2021 (Super Bowl LV) | The Weeknd | 96.7 | 96.4 | 100.3% | CBS, Tampa, FL | 2020 and later | First Canadian solo headliner |
No matching rows.
Read this first: the numbers are not strictly like-for-like across eras. Every audience is the average US television audience for the halftime show, as measured by Nielsen and reported by the NFL and broadcasters, as of November 2026. Nielsen’s method has changed: out-of-home viewing (bars, restaurants, other people’s homes) was added in 2020, and Big Data + Panel measurement followed in later seasons, so recent audiences count viewers that earlier ones could not. Michael Jackson’s 1993 figure came from the older panel method, which makes it the strongest result on the list for its time. The “game audience” column is the Super Bowl telecast average, which is a different measure; “Halftime vs game” is the halftime audience as a percentage of it, and it is n/a for 2014 because a confirmed game figure wasn’t found. Some figures were revised after first release (Rihanna’s 2023 show was first reported lower; Usher’s game audience was first reported as 123.4 million), and sources differ slightly, so the latest widely reported figure is used. Streaming and global numbers are not in the ranking: Nielsen did not count YouTube live streams, and the NFL reported about 4 billion social views of Bad Bunny’s show in its first 24 hours. Shows with figures I could not confirm from a consistent source are left out, including Prince in 2007 and the 2022 hip-hop show (sources give 103.4 and 112 million); the table is the 15 shows with the clearest figures, not every halftime show. The next one, at Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, will be headlined by Jay-Z, as announced in October 2026.[1][2][3][4][15]
Kendrick Lamar’s set at Super Bowl LIX, played at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Fox on February 9, 2025, set the record at 133.5 million, narrowly past Michael Jackson’s 133.4 million.[1][3] The game itself averaged 127.7 million, so the show drew about 4.5% more viewers.[2] SZA joined him, with Samuel L. Jackson and Serena Williams among the other appearances.[5] The video is the NFL’s upload of the full show.
Jackson’s show at Super Bowl XXVII, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on NBC on January 31, 1993, was the first halftime show to raise the audience between the halves.[6] It stayed the most-watched halftime show until Nielsen began counting out-of-home viewers in 2020, and it set the template of booking a major pop star for the slot.[6] The game averaged about 91 million that year.[6]
Usher’s set at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024, drew 129.3 million on CBS, the record when it aired.[7] The guests were Alicia Keys, Jermaine Dupri, H.E.R., will.i.am, Lil Jon and Ludacris.[7] The game averaged 123.7 million, the most-watched TV broadcast in US history at that point.[8]
Bad Bunny headlined Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on NBC on February 8, 2026, the first Latino solo headliner and the first set performed almost entirely in Spanish, with Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin as guests.[4][9] Nielsen put it at 128.2 million against a 124.9 million game audience; Telemundo’s Spanish-language broadcast added 3.3 million.[4][3] Nielsen did not count YouTube streams, so the NFL’s roughly 4 billion social views sit outside this ranking. The video is the NFL’s upload.
Rihanna’s first live show in five years, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Fox on February 12, 2023, became the most-watched halftime show to that date at about 121 million, ahead of the game’s 115.1 million.[10] It had no guests, she was pregnant (confirmed after the show), and it was the first Apple Music-sponsored halftime show.[10] The video is the NFL’s upload of the full show.
Perry’s show on NBC at Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale on February 1, 2015, drew 118.5 million per Nielsen, about 3 million more than Bruno Mars the year before, with Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott as guests.[11] The game averaged 114.4 million. Her backup dancer “Left Shark” became a meme.[11]
Gaga’s solo, guest-free show at NRG Stadium in Houston on Fox on February 5, 2017, drew 117.5 million against a 111.3 million game, a 5.6% gain, the largest over the game since 2011 by that account.[12] About 300 Intel drones formed an American flag, the first use of drones in a TV broadcast.[12] The video is the NFL’s upload.
Coldplay’s Super Bowl 50 show at Levi’s Stadium on February 7, 2016, drew 115.5 million per Billboard, the most-watched halftime show by a group.[13] Beyoncé’s “Formation” drew both praise and criticism, and the game averaged 111.9 million.[13][14]
Mars, with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, drew 115.3 million on Fox at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on February 2, 2014, a halftime record at the time that was passed the next year by Katy Perry.[15] The Chili Peppers’ use of pre-recorded instrument tracks sparked controversy.[15]
Madonna’s show on NBC at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on February 5, 2012, drew 114 million, more than the game’s 111.3 million, with LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. and CeeLo Green as guests.[16] M.I.A.’s on-air obscene gesture drew 222 FCC complaints.[16]