Ayra Starr said in an Instagram story that she is the first Nigerian artist to be on the NFL halftime show, days before she is due to headline the halftime performance at the 2026 NFL London Game.
She is scheduled to perform on Sunday, October 11, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Jacksonville Jaguars, with kickoff set for 2:30 pm British Summer Time, which is also 2:30 pm in Lagos. The NFL was reported to have described her as the first Afrobeats artist to headline an NFL international game halftime show, and several outlets reported that she is also the first African artist to do so.
The league announced the booking on August 28, and Tim Tubito, the NFL’s senior director of global game presentation, music and entertainment, was reported to have said that she is a generational talent with a real connection to fans in London. Her slot is one of seven halftime shows planned across the league’s 2026 international games, spanning seven countries and four continents.
Starr said that London is one of her favourite places in the world and that bringing her album Starrgirl to the NFL’s global stage is a dream come true for her. The performance follows the release of Starrgirl, her third studio album, on August 14 through Mavin Records and Republic Records, and the album was reported to have reached No. 4 on the Billboard World Albums chart.
Since her debut in 2021, Starr has been reported to have gathered more than seven billion global streams and one billion YouTube views, and she was also reported to have become the first African female artist to perform on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2024. Her NFL moment, as she framed it, adds Nigeria’s name to a stage that earlier London halftime shows were reported to have left largely to British and American artists.
