Super Bowl XL halftime show

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Super Bowl XL halftime show
Part of Super Bowl XL
DateFebruary 5, 2006
Location Detroit, Michigan, United States
Venue Ford Field
Headliner The Rolling Stones
Sponsor Sprint Nextel
Producer Don Mischer Productions
Super Bowl halftime show chronology
XXXIX
(2005)		XL
(2006)		 XLI
(2007)

The Super Bowl XL halftime show took place on February 5, 2006, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, as part of Super Bowl XL. It was headlined by the Rolling Stones.

Contents

Production

The show was produced by Don Mischer Productions and sponsored by Sprint Nextel.

The stage was in the form of the group's iconic tongue and lips 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. [1]

Synopsis

The show was approximately 12 minutes in duration. The band began their performance with "Start Me Up" (1981), followed by "Rough Justice" from their latest album A Bigger Bang (2005). Mick Jagger introduced the third song, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965), by saying: "Here's one we could have done at Super Bowl I". [2]

Setlist

Controversies

In the wake of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake two years earlier, ABC, the broadcaster of Super Bowl XL, and the NFL were keen to avoid controversy. [3] [4] However, the choice of the Rolling Stones sparked controversy in the Detroit community because the band did not represent the music of Detroit and no other artist from the area was included. [5] The NFL took issue with some of the language used in the lyrics of the songs that were in the Rolling Stones setlist, particularly specific lyrics in "Start Me Up" and "Rough Justice". [4] [6] In addition to the lyrics the NFL took issue with, there was worry that Jagger might ad-lib explicitly as well. [4] Conflict between the NFL and the band over these lyrics continued into the days just before the performance, with NFL Chief Operating Officer Roger Goodell even threatening to cancel the Rolling Stones performance and find a last-minute replacement. [4] Ultimately, 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 Jagger's microphone, with the group having agreed to the censoring. [3]

During the development of the show, there had been another disagreement between the Rolling Stones and the NFL. [4] The Rolling Stones wanted to perform material from their new album, while the NFL wanted them to play well-known hits from their back catalog. [4] Ultimately, the only new song included was "Rough Justice". [4]

Reception

Critical

Some outlets have retrospectively ranked the performance among the best Super Bowl halftime shows. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Commercial

The show was viewed by 89.9 million people, more than the audiences for the Oscars, Grammys and Emmy Awards combined. [11]

In the week ending February 5, The Rolling Stones' latest album A Bigger Bang only saw a tiny 9% increase (moving from just 4,000 to 5,000). A week later, it improved by selling 6,000 (up 34%). The group was in the midst of its record-breaking A Bigger Bang Tour, which launched on August 10, 2005, and concluded on August 26, 2007. At its conclusion, it became the highest-grossing tour ever at the time, as reported to Billboard Boxscore, having taken in $558 million. [12]

References

  1. ↑ Whitaker, Michael (February 4, 2018). "WATCH: The Rolling Stones perform Super Bowl XL Halftime Show in Detroit". Detroit Sports Nation. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  2. ↑ "ABC has no 'Satisfaction' with Stones' lyrics". February 6, 2006.
  3. 1 2 Stones Decry 'Ridiculous' Super Bowl Censorship, Reuters (February 7, 2006).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 St. John, Allen (2010). The billion dollar game : behind the scenes of the greatest day in American sport : Super Bowl Sunday. Anchor Books. ISBN   978-0767928151.
  5. ↑ McGraw, Bill (December 1, 2005). "No "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" for Motown Halftime". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  6. ↑ Giles, Jeff (February 5, 2016). "Why the Rolling Stones Were Censored During Super Bowl Show". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  7. ↑ Lynch, Joe (February 7, 2024). "The 14 Best Super Bowl Halftime Shows". Billboard. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  8. ↑ Sheffield, Bob (February 12, 2024). "Every Super Bowl Halftime Show, Ranked From Worst to Best". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  9. ↑ "The best Super Bowl halftime shows, ranked". TimeOut. February 12, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  10. ↑ "The 10 Best Super Bowl Halftime Shows of All Time". TimeOut. January 10, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  11. ↑ Unknown. "The Rolling Stones Super Bowl XL halftime show"; February 6, 2006, Don Mischer 8 Productions. Retrieved May 24, 2008. Archived March 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Caulfield, Keith; Eggertsen, Chris (October 11, 2022). "How Super Bowl Halftime Shows Lead to Super Sales, From Michael Jackson to Dr. Dre". Billboard. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
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