Halftime shows are a tradition during American football games at all levels of competition. Entertainment during the Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), represents a fundamental link to pop culture, which helps broaden the television audience and nationwide interest.
During most of the Super Bowl's first decade (starting on January 15, 1967), the halftime show featured a college marching band. The show's second decade featured a more varied show, often featuring drill teams and other performance ensembles; the group Up with People produced and starred in four of the performances. Starting in the 1990s, to counter other networks' efforts to counterprogram the game, [1] the show would be headlined by popular music acts each year, including New Kids on the Block, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Clint Black, Patti LaBelle, and Tony Bennett.
Starting with Super Bowl XXXII, commercial sponsors presented the halftime show; within five years, the tradition of having a theme—begun with Super Bowl III—ended, replaced by major music productions by arena rock bands and other high-profile acts. In the six years immediately following an incident at Super Bowl XXXVIII where Justin Timberlake exposed one of Janet Jackson's breasts in an alleged "wardrobe malfunction", all of the halftime shows consisted of a performance by one artist or group, with the musicians in that era primarily being rock artists from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. These shows were considered "family friendly" and the time in which they took place has been described as "the age of reactionary halftime shows". [2]
Since Super Bowl XLV, the halftime show has returned to featuring popular contemporary musicians, with the typical format featuring a single headline artist collaborating with a small number of guest acts.
The NFL does not pay the halftime show performers an appearance fee, though it covers all expenses for the performers and their entourage of band members, management, technical crew, security personnel, family, and friends. [3] The Super Bowl XXVII halftime show with Michael Jackson provided an exception, as the NFL and Frito-Lay agreed to make a donation and provide commercial time for Jackson's Heal the World Foundation. [4] [5] [6] According to Nielsen SoundScan data, the halftime performers regularly experience significant spikes in weekly album sales and paid digital downloads due to the exposure. [7] For Super Bowl XLIX, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that league officials asked representatives of potential acts if they would be willing to provide financial compensation to the NFL in exchange for their appearance, in the form of either an up-front fee, or a cut of revenue from concert performances made after the Super Bowl. While these reports were denied by an NFL spokeswoman, the request had, according to the Journal, received a "chilly" response from those involved. [8] [9]
The following is a list of the performers, producers, themes, and sponsors for each Super Bowl game's show. This list does not include national anthem performers, which are listed in the article List of national anthem performers at the Super Bowl. Names in bold are headline performers.
Super Bowl | Date | Location | Theme | Performer(s) | Producer | Setlist | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | January 15, 1967 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles, California) | — |
| Tommy Walker | (The University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band)
| [10] [11] [12] [13] |
II | January 14, 1968 | Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida) | Grambling State University Marching Band | — | — | ||
III | January 12, 1969 | Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida) | America Thanks |
| [10] |
For the Rolling Stones, the stage was in the form of the group's iconic tongue logo (John Pasche's design first used in 1971 on their Sticky Fingers album). It was the largest stage ever assembled for a Super Bowl halftime show, with 28 separate pieces assembled in five minutes by a 600-member volunteer stage crew. The group performed three songs: "Start Me Up", "Rough Justice", and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". The show was viewed by 89.9 million people, more than the audiences for the Oscars, Grammys and Emmy Awards combined. [68] In the wake of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, ABC and the NFL imposed a five-second delay and censored lyrics considered too sexually explicit in the first two songs by briefly turning off Mick Jagger's microphone—censoring to which the group had previously agreed. [69] However, the choice of the Rolling Stones sparked controversy in the Detroit community because the band did not represent the traditional Detroit "Motown Sound", and no artists from the area were included. [70]
Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. He started his career as a singer, actor, and dancer on The All New Mickey Mouse Club before rising to prominence as a member of the 1990s boy band NSYNC. The band has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Chasez released his debut single "Blowin' Me Up " in 2002, following NSYNC's decision to go on a hiatus earlier that year. Schizophrenic, his debut solo album, was released in 2004. Chasez has written and produced for a wide variety of music acts such as Liam Payne, Diplo, Backstreet Boys, McFly, Sugababes, Victoria Duffield, and Matthew Morrison. He also served as a judge on the first seven seasons of America's Best Dance Crew.
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. Dubbed the "Prince of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of his generation. According to Billboard, Timberlake is the best performing solo act on Pop Airplay, and remains one of the best-selling recording artists of all time with sales of over 117 million records worldwide. He has won numerous awards and accolades, including ten Grammy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, three Brit Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, the Contemporary Icon Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and MTV's Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, which was broadcast live on February 1, 2004, from Houston, Texas, on the CBS television network, is notable for a moment in which Janet Jackson's right breast and nipple—adorned with a nipple shield—was exposed by Justin Timberlake to the viewing public. The incident, sometimes referred to as Nipplegate or Janetgate, led to an immediate crackdown and widespread discourse on perceived indecency in broadcasting.
A halftime show is a performance given during the brief period between the first and second halves, or the second and third quarters, of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of divisions, or for sports that do not have an extended period of stoppage in play. Ice hockey games consist of three periods, so there are in effect two halftimes at a hockey game: the first intermission is between the first and second periods, and the second intermission comes between the second and third periods. The intermissions are usually given over to contests involving randomly selected audience members, although for major games, like the Winter Classic, the Stanley Cup Finals, the NHL All-Star Game and the Frozen Four, the intermission between the 2nd and 3rd period often features entertainment typically found during halftime shows.
"Rock Your Body" is a song by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake from his debut studio album, Justified (2002). The Neptunes wrote and produced the song. The song features background vocals by American singer Vanessa Marquez, who was signed to The Neptunes' Star Trak record label at the time. Jive Records released the track on March 17, 2003, as the third single from Justified. Originally intended to be featured on Michael Jackson's tenth studio album Invincible (2001), Jackson rejected the song along with several other tracks, which were instead given to Timberlake for his debut album. It is an uptempo, disco groove, soul infused song containing influences from Jackson and Stevie Wonder.
The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, known through corporate sponsorship as the Super Bowl XXXVIII AOL TopSpeed Halftime Show took place on February 1, 2004, at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, as part of Super Bowl XXXVIII. It featured Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, Nelly, Kid Rock, and Jessica Simpson.
Although the Super Bowl is consistently one of the most watched television programs in the United States annually, broadcasters have sometimes attempted to intentionally counterprogram against it by running new programming against the game as an alternative, such as special episodes of existing series, one-off special presentations, and previews of new series, typically during its halftime break.
Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) and defending Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots, 41–33, to win their first Super Bowl and their first NFL title since 1960, making the NFC East the first and currently only division where every team has won a Super Bowl. The game was played on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was the second time that a Super Bowl was played in Minneapolis, the northernmost city to ever host the event, after Super Bowl XXVI at the Metrodome during the 1991 season. It was also the sixth Super Bowl held in a cold-weather city, although the stadium is indoors.
The Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show occurred on February 2, 2014, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey as part of Super Bowl XLVIII and was headlined by Bruno Mars alongside his band The Hooligans, with special guests The Red Hot Chili Peppers. At the time of airing the halftime show attracted the largest audience in the history of the Super Bowl, attracting 115.3 million viewers, later surpassed by the Super Bowl XLIX, Super Bowl 50, and Super Bowl LI halftime shows.
The Super Bowl XLIX halftime show took place on February 1, 2015, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, as part of Super Bowl XLIX. It featured American singer Katy Perry, with singer Lenny Kravitz and rapper Missy Elliott as special guests. The halftime show was critically acclaimed, and its broadcast on NBC attracted over 118 million viewers according to Nielsen.
The Super Bowl 50 halftime show took place on February 7, 2016, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara as part of Super Bowl 50. It was headlined by the British rock band Coldplay, who called Beyoncé, Gustavo Dudamel, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, the University of California Marching Band and the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles as guests. With over 115.5 million viewers, it was the most watched watched halftime set by a group. The band also charted all of their albums on Billboard 200 afterwards.
The Super Bowl LI Halftime show took place on February 5, 2017, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, as part of Super Bowl LI. Lady Gaga headlined the show, with no special guests, performing a medley of her songs, including material from her then-most recent studio album, Joanne (2016). It is currently the most nominated Super Bowl halftime show in Emmy Awards history, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction for a Variety Special.
The Super Bowl LII Halftime Show took place on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as part of Super Bowl LII. Justin Timberlake was the featured performer, as confirmed by the National Football League (NFL) on October 22, 2017. It was televised nationally by NBC with a total of 106.6 million television viewers, down 9% from the previous years' Super Bowl LI halftime show.
The Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show, officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show, took place on February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of Super Bowl LIII. It was headlined by Maroon 5, joined by rappers Big Boi and Travis Scott as guests.
The Super Bowl LIV halftime show, officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show, took place on February 2, 2020, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, as part of Super Bowl LIV. It was televised in the U.S. by Fox. It was co-headlined by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, and included guest appearances by Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Lopez's daughter Emme Muñiz.
The Super Bowl LVI halftime show, officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, was the halftime entertainment of Super Bowl LVI, which took place on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The show was headlined by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, and included guest appearances by 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak. It was the first Super Bowl halftime show to be centered entirely around hip hop music, as well as the last halftime show to be sponsored by Pepsi, with Apple Music taking over the sponsorship beginning with Super Bowl LVII. The show was televised nationally in the U.S. by NBC.
The Super Bowl LV halftime show, officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show, was the halftime entertainment of Super Bowl LV, and took place on February 7, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. It was headlined solely by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. The show was televised in the U.S. by CBS.
The Super Bowl XXXVI Halftime Show, known through corporate sponsorship as the E-Trade Super Bowl XXXVI Halftime Show, was the halftime entertainment of Super Bowl XXXVI, which took place on February 3, 2002, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. It featured Irish rock band U2 as the performer. Using a heart-shaped stage replicated from their 2001 Elevation Tour, the group played three songs and paid tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, which had occurred in the United States five months earlier. The show was produced by Clear Channel Entertainment, which also produced the band's Elevation Tour. The Super Bowl and its halftime show were televised nationally in the US by Fox.
The Super Bowl XLI halftime show took place on February 4, 2007 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Florida as part of Super Bowl XLI. It was headlined by Prince.
The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The organization Up with People performed in five Super Bowl halftime shows, and additionally performed in one Super Bowl pre-game show. In addition, in one of the years that they performed as the halftime headliners, Up with People accompanied Tom Sullivan in performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the game. Up with People has performed in more Super Bowl halftime shows and had more overall Super Bowl performances than any other act.