It’s that time of year again when two football teams play each other for the championship and pause in the middle of their game for arguably the hottest concert of the year. Well, what we really mean is, it’s time for Super Bowl LI!
For football fans and non-football fans, Super Bowl Sunday is probably one of the most anticipated days of the year. For football fans, they watch their favorite teams compete all season long until it comes down to the final two to face off. Then there are those who have no clue what’s going on during a football game and just wait all season for the announcement of who will be singing the national anthem and performing during the halftime show during the Super Bowl.
For this year’s Super Bowl, country singer Luke Bryan will sing the national anthem, while superstar Lady Gaga blesses the stage during halftime. There are no reports on who will be joining her on the stage or if she’ll rock out this performance alone, but we can’t wait to see what Gaga has in store!
Over the past 50 years, we have seen some amazing Super Bowl halftime performances, but we have also come across some epic fails. Lets rank a few halftime shows from the worst to the best. There’s no point in ranking all 50 years because let’s be honest, you probably weren’t alive before Michael Jackson’s 1993 Super Bowl performance.
Anyway, Let’s get started.
8. Madonna – Super Bowl XLVI (2012)
For Madonna to have been 53 during this performance, we’ll give her props. Although a little wobbly, girlfriend still had the moves. Madonna has hits for days, which made her a great choice for the halftime show, but she was joined on stage by an awkward tight rope walker that just made this performance a bit weird. To make things more weird, Cee-Lo Green appeared on stage as band leader.
7. Black Eyed Peas – Super Bowl XLV (2011)
The Black Eyed Peas were more futuristic than we’ll ever see in our lifetime. The group dropped in on stage wearing leather light up suits. Slash (whoever that is) joined them on stage as him and Fergie sang Sweet Child O’Mine. Saving the day, Usher sang his hit Oh My God with Will.i.AM. Unfortunately, the whole performance was still pretty questionable.
6. Coldplay – Super Bowl V (2016)
Coldplay has some hits that we have all at least heard once or twice, but the real reason America got excited for his halftime performance is because not only did Bruno Mars perform, but so did Queen Bey. Beyonce taught us all how to get into Formation, with a performance we’ll never forget.
5. Janet Jackson – Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004)
No one will ever forget Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction that showed her entire right breast to basically the entire world on national television. When we think about this halftime performance, we only seem to remember Justin, Janet, and her silver nipple jewelry, but that year P. Diddy, Nelly and Kid Rock performed as well.
4. N*Sync – Super Bowl (2001)
In the early 2000s, pop music was the genre of the new millennium. So in 2001 when N*Sync performed at the Super Bowl it was epic! The halftime show stared off with N*Sync’s Bye, Bye, Bye and right before the song was done, rock music legend Aerosmith joined the stage. Just when you thought this performance was at its peak, out came Britney Spears, then Mary J. Blige and Nelly … all on the same stage. Priceless.
3. Prince – Super Bowl (2007) XLI
The name just speaks for itself, but Prince changed the game with his Super Bowl performance. His marching band were amazing and it actually rained as he sang Purple Rain. His stage was shaped as his very own symbol, which was a nice touch.
2. Beyonce – Super Bowl XLVII (2013)
Beyonce’s performance during the Super Bowl was so epic she literately made all the lights go out. The stadium had a power outage for 34 minutes after the halftime show where Queen Bey performed her hits Crazy In Love, End of Time and Baby Boy. But Beyonce surprised everyone when Michele and Kelly popped up on stage for one of the greatest Destiny’s Child reunions.
1. Michael Jackson – Super Bowl (1993)
Once Michael Jackson popped up on stage (literately) he stood their staring into the crowd for over a minute while the audience screamed. MJ started off with Jam, then went into Billy Jean and Black and White. Mike used the entire stadium as a prop as the back up performers held up cutouts to create giant posters of kids as he sang Heal the World. The King of Pop set the standard for Super Bowl halftime shows to come.
Make sure you tune into Super Bowl LI this Sunday, February 5th @ 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX. The New England Patriots will be taking on the Atlanta Falcons at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Hopefully, Lady Gaga can live up to the half time show standard and give us an amazing performance.
What are some of your favorite Super Bowl halftime show moments? Sound off in the comments below!
Written By: Marshay Rice