Rap star Kendrick Lamar to perform as part of national championship festivities
By Keith Farner
Published:
Seven-time Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar will be the featured performer at halftime of the national championship game with a show in nearby Centennial Olympic Park.
ESPN announced that the free, non-ticketed event near Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the game will be played, will be integrated into the telecast of the College Football Playoff National Championship. Lamar has received 29 career Grammy nominations, and is expected to perform a medley of hits from his latest album, “DAMN.”
The national championship is set to kick off at 8 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 8 on ESPN.
Earlier this year, the album won Favorite Hip-Hop Album at the 2017 American Music Awards, was recently named the Best Album of 2017 by Rolling Stone, and Lamar himself was honored as 2017 Hitmaker of the Year at Variety’s inaugural Hitmakers event.
“Having the opportunity to perform at halftime of what will surely be the best game of the year between two deserving universities is truly an honor,” Lamar said in an ESPN press release. “Thank you, ESPN, for having me be the first halftime performer ever at the College Football Playoff National Championship.”
In April, Lamar’s fourth studio album, “DAMN.” was released, and it sold 603,300 copies in its first week, the largest first week of his career and any other release that year. The album went to number one on the Billboard 200 where it remained for four consecutive weeks. NPR named it the album of the year, and Rolling Stone declared him to be “the greatest rapper alive.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
