When Kendrick Lamar took over the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, it wasn’t his first time on the halftime stage.
Back in 2022, Lamar joined his mentor Dr. Dre (along with Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Mary J. Blige) at the then-brand-new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, for the first full-fledged hip-hop halftime show. He pulled out two solo songs — “m.A.A.d city” from his 2012 sophomore album good kid, m.A.A.d city and “Alright” from 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly — and also joined the group for “Forgot About Dre” and “Still D.R.E.” His solo headlining set on Sunday marked the second hip-hop halftime.
Last year’s Super Bowl halftime show also featured a repeat performer: Usher – who had top billing at February 2024’s Super Bowl LVIII halftime at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, as he was joined by special guests Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri, Lil Jon and will.i.am – took the stage alongside will.i.am and a different crew in 2011. Fourteen years prior, Usher crashed the Black Eyed Peas halftime show to perform his Billboard Hot 100-topping song “OMG” alongside will.i.am, who produced the 2010 hit. For his 2011 appearance, the R&B superstar descended from the rafters of Cowboys Stadium in an all-white outfit and sunglasses to put on a master class in robotic choreography and even wrapped up the song by jumping over will.i.am, down a flight of stairs, and landing in the splits.
But Lamar and Usher are hardly the first performers to return to the halftime stage. In fact, two have even played the big game three times at this point.
Gloria Estefan: 1992, 1995 & 1999
The Latin music superstar has the distinction of being the first artist to hit the Super Bowl stage three times (one more performer has since joined her elite club; see his entry below). In 1992, she performed in a Winter Olympics salute with figure skaters Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano; in 1995, she hit the stage with Miami Sound Machine as part of Disney’s Indiana Jones-themed halftime; and in 1999, she represented for “salsa” in a “Celebration of Soul, Salsa & Swing” alongside Stevie Wonder, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Savion Glover.
Stevie Wonder: 1994 & 1999
Before taking the stage with Estefan, Wonder joined Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt and Wynonna Judd onstage for the 1994 halftime show’s finale. Ashley Judd, Lisa Hartman Black, The Georgia Satellites, Joe Namath, Elijah Wood and Charlie Daniels also hit the stage to perform a group rendition of The Judds’ “Love Can Build a Bridge.”
Justin Timberlake: 2001, 2004 & 2018
Timberlake has an infamous history with the Super Bowl, ever since he took his “Rock Your Body” lyric “bet I’ll have you naked by the end of this song” too literally during Janet Jackson‘s halftime show back in 2004. But that wasn’t his only visit to the Big Game. He’s now been on the stage three times, just like Estefan: when his *NSYNC bandmates headlined along with Aerosmith in 2001, the notorious Janet show, and when he rocked his very own headlining set in 2018.
