Rapper Kendrick Lamar is set for another career milestone on the weekend when he performs at Super Bowl LIX. It was announced last year that Kendrick, 37, will take to the stage at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Sunday as the headliner for the halftime show. He's due to be joined by special guest SZA for his performance in the middle of the annual NFL championship event in the US. The Grammy Award winner - who won five of those awards just last week - may be supported by his longtime partner Whitney Alford, 38, from the crowd. The engaged couple have been together for years and have two children together, with them parents to kids Uzi and Enoch.
Kendrick and his fiancée Whitney are said to have met at Centennial High School in his hometown of Compton in California. People reports that they were friends initially, before their relationship developed into a romantic one. The couple kept their relationship out of the spotlight amid his rise to fame but were spotted on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards in 2014 together. They have been seen together on numerous occasions in the decade since then.
A year before their red carpet debut, Kendrick spoke about a "lady friend" in an interview. Asked who tells him if he's being an "a**hole," he told Interview magazine in 2013: "The main one is a friend of mine - a lady friend who has known me since high school." He added: "She has always been someone, since day one, who has said something whenever I'm an a**hole, or also if I'm doin' something positive - but more so when I'm out of my element.".
Two years later, Kendrick suggested that he wasn't a fan of certain labels. Speaking about Whitney, he told Billboard: "I wouldn't even call her my girl. That's my best friend. I don't even like the term that society has put in the world as far as being a companion - she's somebody I can tell my fears to.". The Brit Award winner announced his engagement to Whitney in 2015. Whilst on Power 105.1 show the Breakfast Club, he addressed speculation that they were engaged by saying: "Yeah, yeah, definitely ... I'm loyal to the soil.".
Whitney has worked with her fiancé on projects, including having appeared alongside their family in the music video for his song Not Like Us, released last year. She's credited with having provided backing vocals on previous songs too. Kendrick's partner and their two kids notably featured on the album cover for Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, released in 2022. The rapper is seen holding their eldest child, whilst Whitney sat cradling their youngest in the background. The album's cover art was taken as confirmation that the couple had welcomed a second child together at the time.
Aside from collaborating with her partner, Whitney is also the founder of the brand Love + Ethos. According to its website, its mission is "to create supportive spaces and opportunities for women journeying through motherhood while facing systemic, economic, and social challenges". Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
