Katy Perry will perform at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, sources confirm to Billboard. Perry’s performance has been speculated since August after the National Football League had reportedly shortlisted her along with Coldplay and Rihanna, who saw the use of her song “Run This Town” with Jay Z axed in a segment during the wake of the Ray Rice scandal.
The news of those three contenders also came with word that the league was asking those artists under consideration to pay to play, since last year’s broadcast drew a record-setting 115.3 million viewers and previous performers have all seen significant boosts in sales, touring and public profile. In response, appearing on ESPN’s College Game Day this past Saturday, Perry said, “I’m not the kind of girl who would pay to play the Super Bowl.”
With previous speculation, Billboard reported a number of good reasons for Perry to play the big stage, including her current hits, her (mostly) family-friendly catalog and her international popularity (her 58.1 million Twitter followers make her the most popular presence on the social site).
