- Source
- Google search interest, US, daily data.
- Window
- about 60 days before to about 30 days after each Super Bowl, one query per headliner. Headliner dates come from the public list of halftime shows.
- Baseline
- average interest from days −60 to −8.
The Super Bowl halftime show is the biggest stage in music, but how long does the spotlight last? We measured US Google search interest in all 23 halftime headliners from Janet Jackson (2004) to Bad Bunny (2026), comparing each artist's usual search level with game day and the week after. In the 7 days after his February 2026 show, Bad Bunny averaged 24x his pre-game baseline. Kendrick Lamar (2025, 21.7x), Lady Gaga (2017, 19.7x), Shakira/J.Lo (2020, 19.7x) and Usher (2024, 19.1x) follow. Janet Jackson's notorious 2004 show still produced the largest relative spike on record (31.6x for the week, from a near-zero baseline). The bump has grown over time: modern headliners (2014–2026) saw a median 15.5x week-after lift, against 8.4x for 2004–2013. It does not last. For all 23 headliners, search interest was back to within 1.5x of baseline by weeks 3–4.
Week-after search lift by headliner (US)
| Year | Headliner (search term) | 7-day lift | Game-day peak lift | Weeks 3–4 vs baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Janet Jackson | 31.6x† | 100x+† | 0.4x |
| 2026 | Bad Bunny | 24.1x | 100x+† | 1.0x |
| 2025 | Kendrick Lamar | 21.7x | 89.8x | 1.2x |
| 2017 | Lady Gaga | 19.7x | 94.6x | 1.2x |
| 2020 | Shakira (w/ J.Lo) | 19.7x† | 100x+† | 0.6x |
| 2024 | Usher | 19.1x† | 100x+† | 1.0x |
| 2023 | Rihanna | 17.4x† | 100x+† | 0.2x |
| 2012 | Madonna | 15.7x | 76.8x | 1.4x |
| 2019 | Maroon 5 | 15.5x | 88.3x | 0.9x |
| 2014 | Bruno Mars | 14.9x | 75.7x | 1.1x |
| 2022 | Dr. Dre (& co.) | 14.1x | 71.9x | 1.1x |
| 2008 | Tom Petty | 13.6x | 67.1x | 1.5x |
| 2018 | Justin Timberlake | 10.8x | 55.8x | 0.6x |
| 2015 | Katy Perry | 9.7x | 42.4x | 1.0x |
| 2009 | Bruce Springsteen | 9.6x | 44.5x | 1.0x |
| 2005 | Paul McCartney | 9.1x | 39.8x | 1.4x |
| 2013 | Beyoncé | 7.6x | 27.9x | 1.2x |
| 2016 | Coldplay | 6.5x | 32.3x | 0.9x |
| 2021 | The Weeknd | 5.3x | 28.3x | 0.3x |
| 2011 | Black Eyed Peas | 4.3x | 19.4x | 0.8x |
| 2006 | Rolling Stones | 3.5x | 15.0x | 0.9x |
| 2007 | Prince | 2.7x | 6.4x | 1.0x |
| 2010 | The Who | 1.5x | 3.6x | 1.1x |
† The baseline was below 1 on the 0–100 scale and was floored at 1, so these lifts are minimums.
Summary figures:
- Median 7-day lift: 13.6x across all 23 headliners.
- 2004–2013: 8.4x. 2014–2026: 15.5x.
What it means
Fame shows up in reads, streams and searches, but it starts with a song. If you have a hook of your own, an AI song generator can turn it into a full track with vocals in a few minutes. For a soundtrack to your own day, an AI music generator can score it to whatever mood you need.
Method
- Source: Google search interest, US, daily data.
- Window: about 60 days before to about 30 days after each Super Bowl, one query per headliner. Headliner dates come from the public list of halftime shows.
- Baseline: average interest from days −60 to −8.
- Lifts:
- Peak: the highest value on game day through day +2, divided by baseline.
- 7-day: the average for days +1 to +7, divided by baseline.
- Weeks 3–4: the average for days +21 to +28, divided by baseline.
Cite and download
Free to use and cite with a link back to this page.
aisong.lol Research. (2026). The Super Bowl halftime bump: how much search lift each headliner got, 2004–2026. aisong.lol. https://aisong.lol/research/the-super-bowl-halftime-bump-how-much-search-lift-each-headliner-got-2
Use this data. Every table in this study as one spreadsheet-ready file.
↓ Download the data (CSV)
