Green Day will perform at the opening ceremony of Super Bowl LX next month. The NFL announced that the Bay Area band will help kick off the league’s 60th Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The NFL stated that the band will play as multiple Super Bowl most valuable players are honored on the field before the game. The opening ceremony will air as part of the game broadcast on February 8, 2026.
Green Day’s appearance follows years of criticism toward President Donald Trump from the band and its lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong. In 2016, Green Day led a chant of “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” during a performance at the American Music Awards, which gained significant attention.
More recently, Armstrong criticized Trump while performing at the Download Festival in the UK. According to Billboard, he told the crowd, “Donald Trump and his administration is a fascist government,” adding, “And it’s up to us to fight back.”
This Super Bowl booking places Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool on one of the largest stages in American entertainment. However, they will not headline the halftime show. The NFL has scheduled recording artist Bad Bunny for the halftime performance, with other pregame musical slots given to additional artists as noted in league announcements and reports.
The league promoted Green Day as a locally-rooted act for the event in Santa Clara, which is about an hour from the band’s East Bay origins. Green Day formed in the late 1980s and built their career on punk rock music that later gained popularity on mainstream pop and rock radio, becoming one of the best-known acts from the Bay Area punk scene.
Green Day has been offically announced as the headliner for the 2026 Super Bowl Apple Music halftime show. pic.twitter.com/UY2JI7U0KF
— Kerplunk 👁💥 (@k3rplunk1039) September 24, 2025
Super Bowl LX will be held at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, bringing the 2025 season to a close. The NFL designed the opening ceremony around the 60th anniversary theme, using a combination of music and on-field recognition to celebrate past champions and award winners before kickoff.
While the NFL focused on the anniversary ceremony, Green Day’s selection drew renewed attention to the band’s political views, including the 2016 chant about the Ku Klux Klan. Coverage of that American Music Awards moment mentioned that Armstrong broke into the chant during the televised performance.
The NFL did not comment on Green Day’s political statements in its announcement. Instead, the league described the booking as part of a pregame event that connects “generations of Super Bowl MVPs” with a local music act, according to its report on the opening ceremony plans.
Green Day’s Super Bowl performance adds to the band’s high-profile events following the upcoming release of their 2024 album Saviors, which marks their return to arena touring and festival appearances. The band continues to use live shows to address current events, including the comments made at Download Festival mentioned by Billboard.
NBC will broadcast the Super Bowl, with related Spanish-language and streaming platforms also showing the event, according to NFL and media reports detailing the schedule.
