After the diva dance-off between Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in 2020 and The Weeknd’s solo takeover in 2021, Super Bowl 2022 rewrote the playbook for the halftime show.
Last yr’s musical extravaganza featured a loaded lineup of hip-hop heavyweights: Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg. Not to say the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige.
It was a game-changing display of what the halftime show could possibly be all about. And hundreds of thousands of viewers lost themselves within the moment.
As Rihanna prepares to lift us all the best way up together with her comeback performance on Sunday — midway through the showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Arena in Glendale, Arizona — let’s go to the replay and look back at a few of the most effective and worst Super Bowl halftime shows of all time.
BEST:
PRINCE (2007)
When it poured during Prince’s performance of “Purple Rain” at Miami’s Dolphin Stadium — where his aqua and orange ensemble matched the colours of the hometown team — it seemed as if he had commanded the weather so as to add more drama to the occasion. But the actual magic got here in the best way he ruled the stage along with his own hits, akin to “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Baby I’m a Star,” in addition to covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival (“Proud Mary”), Bob Dylan (“All Along the Watchtower”) and Foo Fighters (“Better of You”). No special guests essential.
MICHAEL JACKSON (1993)
The King of Pop modified the sport for Super Bowl halftime shows with the royal spectacle of his extravaganza on the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. From the moment he took the stage, holding a mannequin pose for some 90 seconds, he thrilled us all with a triumphant set that included “Billie Jean,” “Black or White,” “We Are the World” and “Heal the World.”
BEYONCÉ (2013)
You possibly can say that the arrival of Beyoncé 2.0 — the one who slays with extra hot sauce in her bag — happened when she was the musical headliner at Super Bowl XLVII on the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in Recent Orleans. From then on, she ascended to the throne vacated by the King of Pop as the best living all-around entertainer on the planet. And he or she did all of it while staging a Destiny’s Child reunion that showed she could still be a team player, too.
JANET JACKSON, P. DIDDY, NELLY, KID ROCK, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (2004)
Definitely, it will go down as essentially the most memorable Super Bowl halftime show of all time. But there was rather more to this all-star blowout than the “Nipplegate” controversy that sacked CBS, producers, MTV and, most severely, Janet Jackson. Before those previous few seconds of Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body” that stopped the world, this was a reasonably unbeatable lineup. (BTW: Jackson fans are still waiting for that redemption invite.)
JENNIFER LOPEZ & SHAKIRA (2020)
The battle of the Latina divas was a fiercer face-off than the one between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. Each the Bronx-born Lopez and the Colombian star Shakira brought muy caliente stuff to Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium in an electrical halftime show. After guest appearances by Bad Bunny (with Shaki) and J Balvin (with J.Lo), the entire thing ended with an epic dance-off by which their hips most actually didn’t lie.
DR. DRE, EMINEM, MARY J. BLIGE, KENDRICK LAMAR, SNOOP DOGG (2022)
Sure, there have been other halftime shows which were higher on the subject of pure spectacle or musicianship. But the primary real hip-hop halftime show (sorry, Black Eyed Peas) turned the largest stage in the sport into one epic party. The infectious energy was lit from the moment that Cali boys Dre and Snoop hit the stage at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California to do “The Next Episode.” And by the point Blige did “Family Affair,” it felt like a full-on family reunion. With such a stacked lineup, it was one long highlight reel — and, in the long run, a giant victory for hip-hop.
WORST:
THE BLACK EYED PEAS, USHER, SLASH (2011)
It’s now pretty hard to consider that the Black Eyed Peas were ever big — or good — enough to headline the Super Bowl halftime. But even back in 2011, once they led the festivities at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the Peas didn’t seem worthy of the gig. Absolutely nobody had that feeling.
PHIL COLLINS, CHRISTINA AGUILERA, ENRIQUE IGLESIAS, TONI BRAXTON (2000)
This Disney-produced show, with a “Tapestry of Nations” theme, felt like one long — and boring — business for the brand. Indeed, it was mainly a plug for the Walt Disney World Millennium Celebration that was happening at Walt Disney World on the time. I mean, when Phil Collins sings his “Tarzan” song “Two Worlds” as a substitute of “Within the Air Tonight” — and even freaking “Sussudio” — you already know that something has gone horribly fallacious.
GLORIA ESTEFAN, BRIAN BOITANO, DOROTHY HAMILL, US HOCKEY TEAM (1992)
Before Michael Jackson got here along to soup up the Super Bowl halftime, there have been some pretty lame lineups. This one was so weak that it lost major viewership to a live special episode of “In Living Color.” Featuring figure skaters and hockey players in a Winter Olympics theme titled “Winter Magic,” it dared to even take attention away from the one sport that ought to have existed on its big game day. No way that poor Gloria Estefan could salvage this mess with “Get on Your Feet.”
MAROON 5 (2019)
Adam Levine’s crew got dragged on social media for a performance that made us wonder how they’d ever been booked for the largest gig within the biz. (Well, apparently the likes of Rihanna and Cardi B had already turned it down.) By the point a heavily-tatted Levine went shirtless, it felt like a desperate try and salvage a nap of a set. And — 15 years after Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction — his double-nipple display was called out as a double standard.
