Millions of people will be tuning into Super Bowl LVI to check out Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Dr. Dre performing during the Halftime Show. Mary, 51, spoke to Zane Lowe of Apple Music 1 for an interview ahead of the Feb. 13 event and gave a brief tease about the upcoming show taking place inside SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
“The rehearsals, oh my God. Everyone wants to be a fan and everyone wants to come down off the stage and run and watch each other’s performance,” she explained. “It’s amazing. People are going to be losing their minds. It’s amazing.”
The “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” also revealed how she was invited to perform at the Super Bowl. Jimmy Iovine, co-founder of Interscope Records, and Dr. Dre, 56, reached out to Mary with the offer. “Jimmy called me. ‘I’m chilling, Jimmy.’ ‘Mary, got a surprise for you.’ And Dre jumps on the phone. ‘Yo Mary, what you think about doing the Super Bowl?’ I was like, ‘What? Say less. I’m there,’ ” she explained.
Mary will also star in a Super Bowl commercial for Hologic during Sunday’s show. “It’s to create awareness about women getting mammograms,” she told Zane Lowe. “It’s about me being able to keep my appointments, to keep my health up. It’s a priority for me. A lot of people haven’t arrived there yet, but I’m here. And I’m letting everybody know I’m here. My health is my wealth and without my health I can’t do this, I can’t do my job, I can’t… And women, we always put everybody in front of us. And I’m in a place where I’m not doing that anymore. I’m not putting anybody in front of me anymore. I’m putting my health first then I take care of my job and my life.”
Ahead of the all-star performance, Pepsi dropped an ad for its Halftime show. The stars are all summoned to perform in their own unique ways. Eminem finds out while engaged in a rap battle with his younger self. Meanwhile, Snoop gets the call while cruising down the highway, Mary during a photoshoot and Kendrick while he’s songwriting. All the while, Dre seemed to be the mastermind behind it all. In the end, they unite and roll up to the SoFi stadium ready to perform.
There will be other performers at Super Bowl LVI between the Rams and Bengals. Mickey Guyton will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” while Jhené Aiko has been tapped to sing “America The Beautiful.” The Halftime Show will also feature deaf rappers Sean Forbes and Warren “WaWa” Snipe, who will perform American Sign language renditions.