Ayra Starr NFL halftime show: the setlist, what she said and the ‘first African’ milestone explained

The Ayra Starr NFL halftime set at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 11 October was short, but it is already being called a first for African music. BBC Newsbeat reported that she would be the first African artist to headline the halftime show at one of the league’s international games. Here is the full setlist, what she said before and after, how fans watched, and what that “first” does and does not cover.

By Editorial Team

What we know

• The setlist (REPORTED). NotJustOk and TheCable report that she opened with “Heaven Baby”, then performed “Santa”, a medley of “Hot Body” and “Ms. Paper”, “Rush” and “Dangerous”. Bolavip lists the same five songs. TheCable says the set also drew on her August album, Starrgirl.
• The game (FACT). The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Philadelphia Eagles 19-17 when Cam Little kicked a 57-yard field goal as time expired, AP reports. The Eagles led 14-7 at halftime.
• The “first” (REPORTED). In an interview published on Saturday 10 October, BBC Newsbeat said she would become the first African artist to headline one of the NFL’s international games.
• Before the show (FACT). She told BBC Newsbeat the booking “itself is a message”, and that it is “very important” for artists to make the most of chances like this.
• After the show (REPORTED). A clip shared by the Nigerian outlet Hypetribe, embedded by TheCable, shows her saying it felt “like that was another person on stage” and that she was “so grateful”. We have not seen the full original interview.

What the Ayra Starr NFL halftime show adds to our preview

When we published our guide to the Ayra Starr NFL halftime show and how to watch it on Friday, we said we could not confirm the claim that she was the first African act to headline an NFL halftime show. The league’s announcement did not say so.

That has partly changed. The BBC has now reported it, with a qualifier: she is the first African artist to headline the halftime show at one of the NFL’s international games. That is a narrower claim than “the first African at any NFL halftime show”, and it does not touch the Super Bowl, which is a separate and much bigger production. We use the BBC’s wording, labelled REPORTED, because the NFL has not used that phrase in anything we have seen.

The setlist is the other new detail. It opened with “Heaven Baby”, her duet with Zayn, which we covered in our story on the “Heaven Baby” video. “Rush”, the song that earned her a first Grammy nomination for Best African Music Performance, sat in the middle of the set.

What she said, in her own words

The most quoted lines come from her BBC Newsbeat interview the day before the game. “At the end of the day, as artists, we speak for the culture and we speak for the people that listen to us,” she said. “And we have to represent any way that seems fit, that they need.”

She also said the rest of the world is “catching up” with a sound that has been “popping in Africa for the longest time”.

How the broadcast worked

The NFL said before the game that her full halftime show would be shown live in the UK, free to air on Channel 5 and on Sky Sports. Kick-off was at 2.30pm BST, which was also 2.30pm in Lagos.

US viewers had a different experience. The Big Lead reported that the halftime show was not carried on the NFL Network broadcast, so fans shared clips from the NFL+ app and other feeds instead (REPORTED).

In Nigeria, the easiest route was the full video Ayra Starr shared on X.

Why this matters for Afrobeats

The London show was one of a record seven halftime shows at the 2026 International Games, sponsored by American Express, according to the NFL. In its announcement, the league’s Tim Tubito said “African music has been at the center of” London’s music conversation “for years now”.

It is also the first of two Nigerian halftime bookings in Europe this month. Burna Boy is due to headline halftime at the NFL Paris game on 25 October, as we reported in our story on Burna Boy’s London and Paris dates.

These shows are not the Super Bowl, which is booked differently, as our explainer on how the Super Bowl halftime performer is chosen sets out. But they put Afrobeats in front of people who might never buy a concert ticket. Our Afrobeats chart tracker follows how the genre performs on the UK charts.

What we do not know yet

The NFL has not published viewing figures for the halftime show. We have not seen an official league statement repeating the “first African” description. Ayra Starr has not yet given a longer interview about the show.

What happens next

• Viewing figures: we will add them if the NFL or its UK broadcasters release numbers for the London game.
• 18 October: the Jaguars stay in London to play the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium, AP reports.
• 25 October: Burna Boy headlines halftime at the NFL Paris game.
• More Ayra Starr: she also features on FOLA’s new album, as our FOLA 9 album preview explains.

More Afrobeats news: Afrobeats.

Planning around UK show times? Use our London to Lagos time converter.

Read more

• Victony Slick: 12 straight weeks at No. 1 on the Official Afrobeats Chart
• Asake O2 London show: BNXN joins for 15 October and Paris on 24 October. Doors, tickets and what to know

Photo credits: Featured image: Ayra Starr performing at the University of Benin, 2021. Photo: Tomisin Afolabi, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Source. In-article image: An NFL London game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Dolphins v Jaguars, 2021). Photo: Tony Hisgett, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Source.

Sources

• TheCable Lifestyle: Ayra Starr becomes first African artiste to headline NFL half-time show (11 Oct 2026)
• NotJustOk: Watch Ayra Starr’s performance at NFL London halftime show (11 Oct 2026)
• Bolavip: Ayra Starr’s Jaguars vs Eagles setlist (11 Oct 2026)
• BBC Newsbeat: Afrobeats singer Ayra Starr on making history at her NFL half-time show (10 Oct 2026)
• NFL.com: Ayra Starr to headline halftime show of Eagles-Jaguars London game (announcement)
• AP: Cam Little’s 57-yard FG gives Jaguars 19-17 win over Eagles in London (11 Oct 2026)
• The Big Lead: Ayra Starr stuns during NFL London halftime show (11 Oct 2026)