This Sunday, February 7, the Kansas City Chiefs take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. But let’s be honest, who cares about football? It’s all abut the half-time performance (well, and the big-budget commercials). This year, The Weeknd has been tapped to perform at the 2021 Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show in Tampa, Fla.
The “Blinding Lights” singer gushed about “performing on the iconic stage,” via Twitter when the gig was announced. “See you 02/07/21 @pepsi #pepsihalftime #SBLV.”
The official sponsor, Pepsi, tweeted out the exciting news: “When your talent is limitless, you belong on the world’s largest stage. @theweeknd #PepsiHalftime #SBLV @rocnation.”
Prior to the early 1990s, the halftime show featured university marching bands, drill teams, and other performance ensembles. Beginning in 1991, the halftime show began to feature pop music acts, such as New Kids on the Block and Gloria Estefan. Today, the Super Bowl halftime show is the most-watched musical performance of the year, with over 104 million people tuning in last year to see cultural icons, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, rock the stage.
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is serving as the entertainment advisors of the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show.
“The Weeknd has introduced a sound all his own,” the rapper said in a statement. “His soulful uniqueness has defined a new generation of greatness in music and artistry. This is an extraordinary moment in time and the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show is going to be an extraordinary experience with an extraordinary performer.”
As the big game approaches, we are looking back at eight of the best Super Bowl halftime performances of all time.
Michael Jackson, 1993
The Super Bowl XXVII halftime show took place on January 31, 1993, at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California featuring American singer Michael Jackson. The halftime show was broadcast on NBC. This halftime performance increased the TV ratings by a significant amount and has been claimed not only the most watched Halftime Super Bowl show of all time, but remains one of the most watched events in American television history with 133.4 million viewers. Jackson’s performance received worldwide critical acclaim, and has since been hailed as the greatest halftime show of all time. Jackson’s appearance is also credited with starting the NFL’s trend of music top acts to appear during the Super Bowl to attract more viewers and interest.
The King Of Pop started his halftime performance by first appearing at the top of the stadium’s two jumbotrons (using body doubles). Jackson then catapulted from center stage and stood completely frozen and silent for almost two minutes before beginning his performance. His performance included a medley consisting of “Jam” (with the beginning of “Why You Wanna Trip On Me”), “Billie Jean,” and “Black or White,” including the ending of Batten’s guitar solo. The finale featured an audience card stunt, a video montage showing Jackson participating in various humanitarian efforts around the world, and a choir of 3,500 local Los Angeles area children singing “We Are the World,” later joining Jackson as he sang his single, “Heal the World,” with an inflatable globe from the single’s cover art.
Salute to Motown’s 40th Anniversary, 1998
For Super Bowl XXXII on January 25, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, the halftime show featured an all-star time, up for a special Salute to Motown’s 40th Anniversary. The performance began with The Temptations performing their classics, “Get Ready” and “I Can’t Help Myself,” before Smokey Robinson sang “The Tracks of My Tears” and “My Girl.” Martha and the Vandellas also took to the stage to perform “Heat Wave.” Then modern day artists took over with Queen Latifah performing “Paper” and Boyz II Men singing their hits,”Motownphilly” and “A Song for Mama.” The grande finale was a performance of “Dancing in the Street” by all the artists joined by GSU Marching Band, which has performed at the most Super Bowl halftime shows, featuring in six shows including at least one per decade from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Aerosmith And NYSNC, 2001
The Super Bowl XXXV halftime show took place on January 28, 2001 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The show was titled, “The Kings of Rock and Pop,” and was headlined by Aerosmith and NSYNC. The show began with a performance by NSYNC of “Bye Bye Bye.” This was followed by Aerosmith performing “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” Next, NSYNC, joined by Tremors featuring The Earthquake Horns, performed “It’s Gonna Be Me.” At the end of the rendition of this song, Aerosmith frontman, Steve Tyler, sang a final line before Aerosmith began performing the song “Jaded.” The show ended with NSYNC and Aerosmith joining to perform the latter’s song “Walk This Way,” also joined by Nelly, Mary J. Blige, and, of course, Britney Spears.
Janet Jackson and Justin TimBerlake, 2004
OK, maybe it’s not one of the “best” performances, but it’s certainly the most memorable. The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show took place on February 1, 2004 at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. Produced by MTV, it was headlined by Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. The performance began with a brief introduction by Jessica Simpson who shouted, “Houston, choose to party,” followed by a joint performance of “The Way You Move” by the marching bands Spirit of Houston, from the University of Houston, and the “Ocean of Soul” of Texas Southern University. Jackson then took the stage to perform “All for You.” At the start of the song, she descended in a stage elevator.
Following this, lights dimmed and P. Diddy took the stage on a secondary stage, located elsewhere on the field, emerging from a cloud of stage fog. He proceeded to perform “Bad Boy for Life.” He was then joined by cheerleaders who performed a version of the song, “Mickey,” which substituted “Diddy,” and later “Nelly”, for “Mickey.” Nelly then entered in a car, joining Diddy on stage to perform “Hot in Here,” during which the cheerleaders proceeded to remove articles of their clothing. Following this, Diddy performed “Mo Money Mo Problems.” Following this, Kid Rock took the stage on yet another secondary stage, located elsewhere on the field and performed “Bawitdaba,” followed by “Cowboy,” while wearing an American Flag as a poncho.
Jackson then took the stage on the main stage again performing “Rhythm Nation,” with the song’s music video choreography. She donned mostly the same outfit she had during “All for You,” with some differences, such as a different skirt from before. Timberlake joined her and performed “Rock Your Body” with her, at the end of which song, he tore off a part of her top revealing her breast (baring a nipple shield). Dubbed “Nipplegate,” major controversy arose from the exposure of Jackson’s breast. Jackson and Timberlake denied the incident was intentional, with Timberlake characterizing the incident as a “wardrobe malfunction.” The controversy led to an immediate crackdown and widespread debate on perceived indecency in broadcasting.
Prince, 2007
Prince headlined the Super Bowl XLI halftime show, which took place on February 4, 2007 at the Dolphin Stadium in Miami. Wearing a turquoise suit and a do-rag over his hair, Prince performed on a large stage with neon lighting shaped like his signature “love symbol.” During the show, he was accompanied by his backing band, New Power Generation, and the duo, “The Twinz,” which consisted of identical twins Maya and Nandy McClean, who had previously toured with Prince.
The performance began with an intro featuring the song “We Will Rock You.” Fireworks were launched during this intro, and lighting effects simulating lightning were also utilized. Prince then came on stage, rising via a stage elevator, and performed his hit song “Let’s Go Crazy.” Now joined by the Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band, he performed a mashup of his songs “Baby I’m a Star” and “1999” and the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, “Proud Mary.” He then performed a mashup of Bob Dylan’s song “All Along the Watchtower” and the Foo Fighters’ song “Best of You.” As the final song of the performance, he performed his own hit “Purple Rain,” fittingly, in a real downpour.
Madonna 2012
Madonna, in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, took over the Super Bowl XLVI halftime on February 5, 2012 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. It began as a procession to the stage, with men dressed as gladiators pulling a large structure hidden from view by large gold-colored flags. As “Vogue” began, the flags were removed, revealing Madonna in a long, gold-colored cape and an ancient-Egyptian headdress seated on a large throne. The procession reached the stage, and the singer began performing “Vogue.” During the chorus, the stadium floor lit up to reveal animated Vogue magazine covers featuring Madonna. As “Vogue” segued into “Music,” two large boom boxes appeared on the ground screens and the stadium handrails were lit with moving lights. Madonna and her dancers moved toward the stands. Slacklining performer, Andy Lewis, accompanied the singer, who danced on a tall pedestal. Madonna pretended to shoot Lewis and moved to the other end of the stage, where LMFAO sang “Party Rock Anthem” in a segue from “Music.” They and Madonna danced to “Sexy and I Know It.”
“Music” ended with a group of female dancers in cheerleading uniforms joining Madonna onstage for “Give Me All Your Luvin’.” Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. joined her onstage, dressed in Egyptian-style clothing, and they danced as cheerleaders with pom-poms. During the song they stood on separate, elevated platforms, where Minaj and M.I.A. performed their respective verses. CeeLo Green came onstage with a marching band at the end of the song, and he and Madonna performed portions of “Open Your Heart” and “Express Yourself.” “Like a Prayer” opened to a darkened stadium, with small specks of light visible, and a large choir, dressed in black, joined Madonna onstage. She reached the top of the bleachers and sang the final line before being pulled beneath the stage, surrounded by smoke. The show ended with “World Peace” appearing on the ground screens with an image of the continents.
Beyoncé 2013
Widely consider the best Super Bowl halftime show, Beyoncé headlined the show during Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. It became the then second most watched show in Super Bowl history by garnering 110.8 million viewers. The performance, and the stadium blackout that followed, generated more than 299,000 tweets per minute, making it the most-tweeted moment in the history of Twitter.
A countdown to the halftime show began under the music for “Countdown.” It then opened with an instrumental portion of “Run the World (Girls)” and Beyoncé ascended on a stage lift while a Vince Lombardi speech was heard in the background. Then Beyoncé started singing an a capella version of the chorus of “Love on Top,” which later led to a performance of “Crazy in Love,” when as stated by Jon Caramanica of The New York Times, Beyoncé was “virtually growling, giving that song a ferocity it has never before had.” Beyoncé went on to perform “End of Time,” which began with a stomping dance. A performance of “Baby Boy” followed when Beyoncé danced while screens behind and below her projected clones of herself dancing the same choreography. Former Destiny’s Child members, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, joined her on stage, after being launched off the floor to perform “Bootylicious” and “Independent Women Part I” from the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack which they finished with a pose in the form of the film’s lead female characters. They continued with a version of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” After they left the stage, Beyoncé said to the crowd, “Everybody put your hands toward me – I want to feel your energy!” and ended the show with an “emotional” rendition of “Halo.” After her last song, Beyoncé told the crowd, “Thank you for this moment. God bless y’all.”
Lady Gaga 2017
Lady Gaga, without any other musical guests, took over the Super Bowl LI Halftime show on February 5, 2017 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The performance was met with critical acclaim, and received six Emmy Award nominations, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction for a Variety Special. The halftime show began on the roof of NRG Stadium. Lady Gaga started singing “God Bless America” as drones swarmed behind her emitting red, white, and blue color. She then sang Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” followed by the ending of the Pledge of Allegiance. Gaga then dove from the rooftop as the drones behind her formed the design of the US flag. The singer came down and stood on a tall pillar across the stage, and performed “Poker Face” as fireworks lit up behind her. After the first verse and chorus, Gaga, attached to a harness, bounced from the pillar to the main stage. Her dancers joined her as she sang “Born This Way,” which included the track’s intermediate spoken verse.
As the performance ended, Gaga headed toward one corner of the stage inside a star-shaped structure and sang “Telephone.” A dancer carried her to the main stage where she held a keytar and performed “Just Dance.” The singer moved from the stage to the ground as the song ended. She reached a podium with a piano and began singing “Million Reasons.” Continuing the song, she came down from the podium and hugged members of the audience. For the finale of “Bad Romance,” a team of white-clad dancers strutted across the main stage. Gaga joined them wearing a football inspired costume and performed the track. As fireworks erupted heralding the end of the show, Gaga reached the edge of the stage, shouted “Super Bowl 51,” dropped her microphone and jumped off the stage catching a football.
