There are very few events nowadays that capture the audience’s attention like the Super Bowl does. Ad slots for the Super Bowl cost $5.6m for 30 seconds, the most expensive on US terrestrial television. Additionally, the Super Bowl Half-Time show has become quite a high-profile gig. In 2020, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez gave a memorable performance at the Super Bowl Half-Time show at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida. Here’s taking a look at some of the best Super Bowl Half-Time show performances:
Prince (2007)
Until the 2007 Super Bowl, most people didn’t know they wanted to hear Prince backed by a marching brass band. He opened the performance with the riff from We Will Rock You by Queen.
Prince then moved on to sing Let’s Go Crazy and Baby I’m A Star, with the Florida A&M University Marching 100 doing an excellent job as a backing band. Prince then proceeded to a trio of songs by other artists—Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival, All Along The Watchtower by Bob Dylan, and Best Of Me by Foo Fighters.
The finale was the icing on the cake—there was a downpour as Prince closed his performance with his Purple Rain.
Katy Perry, Missy Elliott, and Lenny Kravitz (2015)
This performance had way too many unique elements to be excluded from this list—a surreal Alice in Wonderland-style chessboard, a giant puppet tiger, as well as sharks, dancing balls, and palm trees.
The sudden switch from Katy Perry’s California Gurls and Teenage Dream to Missy Elliott’s Get Ur Freak On is undoubtedly one of the greatest mood changes in the history of Super Bowl Half-Time shows. This performance became the most-watched halftime show in history, so much so that it got more views than the game itself.
Some of the other best performances were those by Michael Jackson (1993), Lady Gaga (2017), and Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child (2013). We’re looking forward to the Half-Time show at Super Bowl LV (February 7, 2021), where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will go head-to-head against the Kansas City Chiefs!