Here’s what we know about who’s performing at Super Bowl 51
Lady Gaga isn't the only one taking the stage at NRG Stadium in Houston for the big game.
After her powerhouse National Anthem performance at Super Bowl 50, Lady Gaga is returning to the Super Bowl stage this year to headline the halftime show.
Last year’s halftime performance featured multiple headliners, with Beyonce, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, and Mark Ronson all taking the stage. This year, Gaga is flying solo — for now.
One famous musician that could possibly join Gaga on stage is 90-year-old crooner Tony Bennett. Bennett will reportedly appear in a pre-taped spot introducing the singer, and though Gaga and Bennett seem like an unlikely pair, the duo have been friends since first meeting in 2011, and toured together in support of their joint album, Cheek to Cheek, in 2014.
Gaga played coy about Bennett’s involvement during an interview Monday on the Karson & Kennedy show on Boston’s Mix 104.1.
“I will tell you that it’s going to be fantastic, and Tony is the best there is,” Gaga said. “If he was in it, it would be fantastic!”
The singer also addressed rumors that she would start her performance on the roof of NRG Stadium before descending to the stage, telling the radio hosts that her sister, Natali, came up with the high-flying idea. That said, she didn’t explicitly say she would perform on the stadium roof, so like almost everything else about her performance, the intro remains a mystery.
5 days pic.twitter.com/1qLKbNRml7
— xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) February 1, 2017
Gaga isn’t the only celebrity crooner who will be taking the stage at NRG Stadium on Sunday, though. Before the game, country singer Luke Bryan will perform the National Anthem, the first male artist to do so since Billy Joel in 2007. Recent female musicians other than Gaga who have performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl include Idina Menzel (2015), Alicia Keys (2013), and Kelly Clarkson (2012).
Excited to perform the National Anthem on @NFL's biggest stage #SB51. See y'all in Houston. pic.twitter.com/MIbk2gJbah
— Luke Bryan (@LukeBryanOnline) January 22, 2017
Prior to Bryan’s performance, Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Jasmine Cephas Jones, best known for playing the Schuyler sisters in the original cast of the Broadway musical Hamilton, will sing “America the Beautiful,” which has been performed prior to the National Anthem at every Super Bowl since 2009. The three actresses/singers are no longer part of the musical’s cast, so seeing the trio performing together again will be a treat for Hamilton fans. Other musicians who have sung the patriotic ballad at previous Super Bowls include John Legend (2015), Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert (2012), and Queen Latifah (2010).
This year, on Feb. 5th, Houston becomes the greatest city in the world for the @Superbowl w. #TheSchuylerSisters! https://t.co/Gns0y90Okn
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) January 28, 2017
