Chiefs fans wanted Taylor Swift as Kendrick Lamar's halftime show guest, SZA didn't even make top 10: Super Bowl survey

The time is ticking down on the Super Bowl 59 countdown, with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles’ final matchup scheduled for Sunday, February 9. The highly anticipated showdown will also open the gates to the highly anticipated halftime show featuring the hip-hop icon Kendrick Lamar. Regardless of who ends up on top at Sunday’s epic finale, the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show confirmation has already expanded Lamar’s victory validation saga in his stretched-out beef with Drake. Fans are holding their breath to possibly catch him unleashing the tunes of his mega-viral track “Not Like Us.”

Lamar’s own headlining moment comes just three years after he graced the stage as a secondary presence at the star-studded Super Bowl 57 halftime show led by industry colleagues Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Mary J Blige. After being tapped by Jay-Z, Roc Nation and Apple Music as this year’s halftime show headliner, Kendrick announced frequent collaborator SZA as a special guest performer. Following their Caesars Superdome performance, the duo is all set to embark on tour together this spring.

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Most wanted Super Bowl halftime show guest performers: Survey (Jan 2025)

Contrary to Lamar’s pick, NFL fans had already chosen their top 10 favourites whom they wanted to accompany the “Not Like Us” hitmaker. Ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show, VegasInsider.com conducted a survey of 3000+ NFL fans on the issue.

Pitching their two cents, the enthusiasts declared ‘Rap God’ Eminem their most-wanted guest performer for Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show. The results showed 20.37% of the 3,005 respondents based in the US were in favour of the ‘Real Slim Shady’ taking the stage.

The January 2025 survey further revealed Beyonce (12.71%) and Taylor Swift (12.31%) as the next best picks. Dr Dre (11.58%) and Lil Wayne (10.42%) closed out the Top 5 roster. Surprisingly, 9.92% of the NFL fans participating in the survey also hoped for Lamar’s long-standing rival, Drake, to join him on the stage. Imagine K. Dot performing “Not Like Us” with Drizzy standing next to him. There’s your awkward highlight of the night.

The remaining votes went to Rihanna (9.88%), 2Chainz (8.59%), A$AP Rocky (7.45%) and U2 (6.92%). Shockingly, SZA, Lamar’s actual on-stage partner for this year’s halftime show was nowhere to be seen on the Top 10 most wanted guest performers rankings.

Most popular song picks for Kendrick Lamar's halftime show setlist

In yet another jaw-dropping reveal, the survey disclosed that despite “Not Like Us” consolidating Kendrick’s mainstream fame last summer, it wasn’t the most wanted song to be performed during the Super Bowl. The honour instead went to a song the American rapper released over a decade ago: “B**ch, Don't Kill My Vibe,” with 12.25% of votes.

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“Not Like Us,” Lamar’s 2024 hit track that ultimately rendered him the victor of his war of words with Drake, got 12.08% of votes, followed by the Black Panther OST “All the Stars” (9.45%) and “HUMBLE” (7.39%). Other much-loved picks to make the Top 10 were “Bad Blood” with Taylor Swift (6.49%), “30 for 30” with SZA (5.49%), “Alright” (5.12%), “Die Hard (feat. Blxst & Amanda Reifer)” (4.96%), “DNA” (4.73%) and “Euphoria” (4.56%).

Chiefs vs Eagles

Kansas City Chiefs supporters especially hoped for Taylor Swift to step out as the halftime show guest. Their most wanted song for the setlist was B**ch, Don’t Kill My Vibe.” On the other hand, “Not Like Us” topped the Philadelphia Eagles’ fans list, with Eminem as their favourite pick for the show guest. The “Houdini” hitmaker was also the most popular guest performer choice in most states of the country (34).

Tune into the Super Bowl LIX on February 9, 2025, at 6:30 pm ET.