Houston’s Super Bowl Halftime Headliner is Revealed: And Janet Jackson’s NippleGate Legacy is in Danger

Get ready for something crazy. Lady Gaga is taking over as the halftime headliner for Houston’s Super Bowl moment in February. Is Janet Jackson’s legacy in danger?

While it’s unlikely that the NFL-approved Gaga will pull off NippleGate 2, it’s a safe bet that she’ll stretch the limits of costume design in her moment on the mega world stage. For their part, Roger Goodell and the NFL just have to be happy that they landed their woman this time. This summer, the NFL courted Adele to play halftime, but the superstar singer rather publicly turned the league down cold.

No such worries with Gaga.

She broke the news herself on Twitter Thursday night. “It’s not an illusion. The rumors are true. This year the Super Bowl goes Gaga!,” Gaga tweeted out to her 63.8 million followers. Meanwhile those wishing for a dignified halftime weeped. We kid. There’s no room for nuance. This is the Super Bowl.

It turns out that Gaga singing the National Anthem at Super Bowl 50 last February turned out to be something of an audition. Now, she gets the biggest stage of all. Super Bowl 50’s halftime was viewed by a cool 116.5 million people. That’s no ordinary concert crowd, You know Gaga will want to dominate the water cooler talk the Monday morning after the game. That will take something unusual. Something strange. Something perfectly Gaga. And it’d better not just be a Perfect Illusion.

Some may be upset that halftime is not going to an artist with Houston ties, but any choice the NFL would seriously consider (sorry, ZZ Top never had a chance — even Tom Brady is more likely to get love from this commissioner) came with issues. Beyonce played the last Super Bowl halftime, eliminating her from consideration. The NFL doesn’t do repeats.

A little bit of crazy is just fine, though.