The Super Bowl is upon us. You know what that means…food, parties, football, commercials, and a halftime show. Coldplay, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and Madonna are the most recent halftime performances, but this year the show will be featuring pop-star Lady Gaga. The halftime show is a huge part of the spectacle that is the Super Bowl, but how did we get to where it is today?
The early years of the halftime show featured college marching bands and other group performances. Grambling State University’s and the University’s of Arizona’s marching bands performed during the first big game against the Packers and the Chiefs. These bands performed traditional American march music and were generally performing with a theme. This trend continued largely unchanged until 1991 when the NFL began to debut popular pop musicians to boost TV ratings. Originally, the halftime show had been for the entertainment of the spectators in the stadium, but the NFL later realized and pounced upon the marketability of the halftime show.
The first major mainstream band to perform for the Super Bowl was New Kids on the Block in 1991. 1993 saw a huge breakthrough in viewership for the halftime show as more people tuned in to watch Michael Jackson perform then they did to watch the actual game. The halftime show continued to get famous names in pop, country, and rock music such as ZZ Top, Boyz II Men, Phil Collins, Aerosmith, Britney Spears, ‘N Sync, U2 and Stevie Wonder up until a landmark year in 2004 with the performance of Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Nelly, Kid Rock, and P. Diddy.
2004 is significant because of the scandal now generally referred to as “Nipplegate” because of an infamous slip of clothing in which Janet Jackson’s bare breast was exposed for a few split seconds by Justin Timberlake. In the wake of this scandal, there was a firestorm from the FCC, and the NFL was extremely angry that the halftime show overshadowed the game. After the incident, the NFL went to classic rock performers like Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, and the Who for the next six years before opening back up to pop artists in 2011 with the Black Eyed Peas.
The halftime show has in many recent years overshadowed the actual game. For instance, Madonna’s performance a couple years ago had more viewership then the actual game itself (according to Yahoo! Sports). The halftime show is now very much a spectacle with a variety of lights, special effects, and backup dancers. Surprisingly, halftime performers do not get paid for their performance as the NFL believes that the exposure they get from the performance pays for that more than enough. Here’s hoping for an exciting and well done performance this year!
