Super Bowl: Jennifer Lopez, Shakira Perform Dazzling Halftime Show With Touching Tribute to Kobe Bryant

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira took the stage at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night to deliver a highly anticipated halftime show performance at Super Bowl LIV.

As NFL officials had promised ahead of the event — during which the San Francisco 49ers faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs — Lopez and Shakira’s 12-minute dual number included countless dancers and a robust setlist that featured some of the pop superstars’ biggest hits.

Despite the glamorous costumes, hard-hitting choreography and dazzling pyrotechnics, one moment that immediately stood out in the Pepsi-presented show was a touching tribute to Kobe Bryant. The NBA legend and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, along with seven others, died Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles, leaving Hollywood stars, athletes, politicians and fans alike mourning the tragic loss.

Toward the end of Sunday’s performance, when Lopez’s 11-year-old daughter, Emme, joined in to sing a stripped-down verse of her mom’s hit “Let’s Get Loud,” a giant cross appeared on the field illuminated in yellow and purple, the colors of Bryant’s longtime basketball team, the Los Angeles Lakers.

In a press conference before the halftime show, Lopez explained to reporters why she wanted to celebrate Bryant’s legacy in the performance. “I was in the middle of rehearsing and talking about this show and [my fiancé] Alex [Rodriguez] came to me with tears in his eyes and he’s like, ‘You’re not going to believe what happened,'” the singer recalled. “And he was devastated. I think it’s just affecting everybody so much because it’s just reminding us how fragile life is and how we have to appreciate every single moment.”

(The NFL also honored Bryant and his daughter during the Super Bowl preshow, during which players and personnel from both teams took to the field for a brief moment of silence.)

Aside from the emotional moment for Bryant, Lopez and Shakira’s joint performance was filled with major doses of fun and excitement. Shakira went first and sang her songs “She Wolf,” “Empire,” “Whenever, Wherever” and Cardi B’s hit “I Like It,” for which she welcomed Bad Bunny to the stage to join her. Shakira then transitioned into “Chantaje” with Bad Bunny before breaking into “Hips Don’t Lie,” during which she crowd-surfed.

Lopez (who rocked five custom looks, courtesy of stylists Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn) was then up, performing her beloved tunes “Jenny From the Block,” “Ain’t It Funny,” “Get Right” and “Waiting for Tonight,” during which she appeared to pay homage to her Hustlers character, Ramona, with a gravity-defying pole-dancing performance. Lopez also performed “Love Don’t Cost a Thing,” “Mi Gente” (with J Balvin) and “On the Floor.”

Lopez then welcomed her daughter to the stage for an angelic opening of “Let’s Get Loud” that featured the Bryant tribute and a children’s choir. When the music picked up, Shakira came back out to join Lopez for a bit before Lopez made an exit, allowing Shakira to shine on her own with a lively rendition of her global smash “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).” The two joined together again for their final gyrations before the energetic show came to an end.

“During those six minutes that I have and those six minutes that you have, we will be able to take people on a journey that shows who we are artistically and who we’ve been all these years,” Shakira previously said of their career-spanning spectacle, with Lopez adding, “We accomplished what we set out to do.”

Earlier in the day, Lopez shared a photo of herself and Shakira in a pre-performance embrace, emphasizing their Latin heritage. (Lopez, a New York native, is of Puerto Rican descent, while Shakira is Colombian.) “So excited to share the stage with you tonight @Shakira,” Lopez wrote. “Let’s show the world what two little Latin girls can do.”

Watch the full performance below.