The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the most memorable performances in the careers of the world's stars. It has an audience of more than 200 million viewers around the world and an equal number of views on social media. For almost all artists, this is the highest point of recognition, followed by album sales and inclusion in all sorts of charts.
Artists are spending their own money to perform without receiving anything in return from the NFL. The cost is as high as $15-20 million for a 13-minute show. But the payoff is huge. The 2023 show will feature Rihanna, who hasn't performed in 5 years. Perhaps it will be epic, but for now, Telecom Asia Sport presents its own ranking of the best halftime shows in history.
10. The Weeknd, Super Bowl 2021
The halftime show can be divided into two eras - before 1993, when the halftime shows featured mostly student bands, and after, with superstars. Not all shows were successful. For example, audiences are still laughing at Maroon 5 and Travis Scott for their failures in 2019.
Many believe that the most emotionally difficult show was The Weeknd's in 2021. Due to COVID restrictions, the Canadian had to perform in front of a nearly empty stadium, so it was mostly aimed at the TV audience. For instance, the stage was moved from the center of the field to one of the stands for the first time.
The Weeknd handled the task with grace: he performed big hits like Starboy, The Hills and Can't Feel My Face, and started a lot of memes. The high point came when he and the dancers took to the field to the rapidly accelerating beat of House of Balloons which transitioned into Blinding Lights.
It was a very special moment: going from a little-known track from The Weeknd's first mixtape, which he wrote early in his career when he was still homeless, to the biggest hit of his life. Fans who have been watching Abel (the artist's real name) for years enjoyed those few minutes immensely.
The Weeknd's performance was also notable because, for the first time in years, the NFL invited a superstar at the height of his popularity. It's more common to invite the artists who were at their most popular era years ago, like Rihanna.
9. Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent Super Bowl 2022
The 2022 Super Bowl will be held in Los Angeles. Typically, the NFL tries to invite stars with ties to the city. No wonder the choice fell on Dr. Dre, one of the best rap producers in history, who has launched the careers of dozens of artists. Dre first rose to national prominence as one of the NWA's and then went on to a solo career, turning the industry upside down with his musical beats.
Dre invited the biggest artists he had worked with to perform at the Super Bowl. In the 90's he discovered Snoop Dogg, in the early 2000's - Eminem and 50 Cent - the idols of school kids around the world at the time. In the early '10s, Dre found Kendrick Lamar, who grew up in Compton, just like his producer.
Dr. Dre also invited Mary J. Blige, who was called the "Queen of Soul Hip-Hop" in the early '90s. Together they performed their most popular compositions on a stage that recreated the image of Compton. The whole performance is a tribute to East Coast rap. If you love this kind of music, this show is definitely one of the best for you. If not, you're unlikely to get nostalgic.
8. U2, Super Bowl 2002
The U2 show seems ordinary, but not for the residents of the United States. For them, this landmark performance is the first major production since 9/11. Janet Jackson was originally scheduled to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl, but she declined because of the terrorist attack. U2 accepted, and their entire performance was a tribute to those who died in New York.
For example, during the show, the names of all the victims of World Trade Center were displayed on the stadium's screen. The organizers wanted Bono to lip-sync, but he refused, saying it would make it impossible to emotionally express what he was going through.
The high point of the show came in the final seconds, which will live forever in the history of American culture. Bono and the band were performing one of U2's biggest hits, Where the Streets Have No Name - and in the final seconds, the artist unzipped his jacket to reveal the lining, which was decorated as an American flag. The Irishmen have created a new trend for the show - now it was not only about singing some songs, but about conveying as much emotion as possible to the audience and surprising them.
Bet on Super Bowl 2023 with Coinplay7. Bruce Springsteen, Super Bowl 2009
Bruce Springsteen performed at the Super Bowl in 2009. The NFL was undergoing a change and began to focus on a younger audience. That's why Springsteen, and then The Who, were the last headliners who became famous back in the 20th century. And before that there was Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Tom Petty.
It looked like all these artists were performing at some kind of a fancy party, while Springsteen delivered an emotional and lively show. Before the show started, he yelled, "I want you to put away the guacamole and the chicken wings. Turn your TVs up to maximum! Is there anyone alive?" And then he put on a real rock concert.
6. Katy Perry, Super Bowl 2015
In 2015, as in 2023, the Super Bowl was held in Arizona. The organizers invited Katy Perry, who was then at the height of her fame. Given the singer's charisma and originality, viewers expected an epic show. But not as epic as it turned out to be.
The magnitude of the show was clear from the very first seconds when Perry decided to enter the field and sing Roar on a giant golden mechanical panther. It looked like the opening act of the Olympics, not just a 13-minute performance. The madness continued on the next track when Lenny Kravitz rolled out from under the field.
Perry went for the visuals, and she didn't disappoint. Not only were her outfits different, but her stages too. In addition to the golden panther, there were dancers in shark costumes, who later became one of the biggest memes of 2015.
The only thing that fell out of the show was Missy Elliott's performance. But otherwise it was brilliant, like Katy's outfits. Still, from an emotional point of view, the show wasn't quite as good as the best performances in our list.
The magnitude of the show was clear from the very first seconds when Perry decided to enter the field and sing Roar on a giant golden mechanical panther. It looked like the opening act of the Olympics, not just a 13-minute performance. The madness continued on the next track when Lenny Kravitz rolled out from under the field.
Perry went for the visuals, and she didn't disappoint. Not only were her outfits different, but her stages too. In addition to the golden panther, there were dancers in shark costumes, who later became one of the biggest memes of 2015.
The only thing that fell out of the show was Missy Elliott's performance. But otherwise it was brilliant, like Katy's outfits. Still, from an emotional point of view, the show wasn't quite as good as the best performances in our list.
5. Lady Gaga, Super Bowl 2017
Two years later, Lady Gaga took up the challenge. The two women have similar pop styles, but Stephanie Germanotta is much more extravagant. So hundreds of millions of viewers waited to see if she could top Perry. After all, there's nothing more epic than a mechanical panther, right?
Yes, there is. Like performing on the roof of a stadium with dozens of drones imitating the stars and the American flag, followed by jumping onto a metal stage under the fire cannons. If it had been Perry doing that, everyone would have been amazed. But the crowd knew how incredible Lady Gaga's shows are.
Gaga's show was the height of insanity. Everything was turned up to the max: costumes, stage, dancing, playing a hand-held synthesizer while an assistant held a microphone to the singer's head. And the fireworks at the end of Bad Romance can give goosebumps even to those who don't like Gaga. Her show is definitely one of the top 5 shows in history.
Bet on Super Bowl 2023 with Coinplay4. Michael Jackson, Super Bowl 1993
Michael Jackson's show is hard to compare to the later ones - it seems a bit old-fashioned compared to the others. The "King of Pop" performed his greatest hits and promoted the new album with his signature dancing, but the performance doesn't appear as epic as Gaga's or Perry's. Except Gaga's, Perry's and everyone else's show wouldn't have happened without Jackson.
Michael completely changed the format of the show. It was the orchestra era before him and he ushered in the superstar era. The NFL brought in the singer to save the ratings. For the first time in history, more people watched the halftime show than the game itself. The singer benefited too - he was back on top of the music ratings.
Jackson had created a legend that would bring the NFL hundreds of millions of dollars from advertisers over the next 30 years. So despite his lack of modern glamor, Jackson's performance hits all the right notes. Michael was the teacher of modern superstars.
3. Beyoncé, Super Bowl 2013
In 2013, the NFL invited Beyoncé to perform. It was a milestone for the industry: for the first time ever, a single female singer performed at halftime of the Super Bowl. Before that, only some male artists had performed alone. Paul McCartney, for example, but a woman had never had this opportunity.
Beyonce's performance came before the era of explosive visual effects, and she wanted to surprise the audience with her singing and choreography. However, one unfortunate image was so epic that the singer later went to court to have it removed from the Internet.
The program featured elaborate dance routines, but the singer refused to lip sync. It would have been the toughest challenge for any performer, and Beyoncé passed with flying colors.
In addition to the choreography, Beyoncé fired up the crowd with her hit songs. American critics even noted that the singer managed to outdo the game itself, with her Halo ending particularly memorable. Some didn't like the revealing outfits, but it would have been hard to convey all the energy from the stage wearing something else.
2. Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, Super Bowl 2020
Super Bowl 2021 was held in Miami, and the NFL decided to capture the spirit of the city. Florida is a state with more than half of its population speaking Spanish, so the league invited Latinas Shakira and Jennifer Lopez to perform. The idea was purely commercial: in the late '10s, Spanish-language songs dominated the charts, take Despacito, for example.
The idea was a success: the performance of Shakira and J.Lo became the most viewed NFL video in the social networks. And all thanks to the show itself: the singers turned it into a carnival. Shakira showed masterful dancing at the age of 44, and it was obvious that she's having a lot of fun.
Unlike Perry, Gaga and Beyoncé, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez managed to convey totally cheerful emotions without jumping off rooftops or huge robots. For 14 minutes, every viewer was immersed in a colorful Latin celebration. Pure emotion and excitement.
1. Prince, Super Bowl 2007
Prince's 2007 Halftime Show stands out from the rest. Whereas experts and ordinary viewers compare other performances to each other only, here they ask the question, "Which is more awesome, Prince's show or Queen's performance at Wembley in 1985 during Live Aid?"
Prince's Halftime Show and everyone else's are on a whole different level. Almost everyone says that there was nothing like it before or after. Those who witnessed the show firsthand recall that no one cared about the second half of the Super Bowl - so masterful was the performance.
And there was basically nothing extraordinary about it. Prince performed some of his songs and covers of Jimmy Hendrix and Foo Figthers. But he was really great at it. Especially since the performance was held in pouring rain, the only time in history.
Before the show, the managers told the singer to be careful, because he could have slipped. In response, he simply asked if they could make it rain even harder. In the last epic five minutes the singer performed Purple Rain together with the audience to the orchestra.
The main difference between Prince and others is that he was focused on the live audience in the stadium, not on the millions in front of the TV. And that's why 70 thousand people were singing along to him at the end. This is also the reason why Shakira Shakira and J.Lo's show was so emotional, too.
