Over the years, several A-list artistes have graced the much-coveted Super Bowl halftime stage and delivered performances that have left the audience in awe

Varun Das

When asked about her decision to turn down an offer to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019, Rihanna had bristled, ‘I couldn’t be a sell-out’. Once seen as the holy grail of the entertainment world, artistes had started to shun the halftime stage to show support for controversial Black Lives Matter firebrand and NFL fame Colin Kaepernick. But in an eyebrow-raising volte face, the Love the Way You Lie songstress eventually changed her mind.

Her most ardent fans held their breath as they saw her appear onstage in a red bodysuit, with diamond earrings, during the 2023 halftime show. Bucking the time-honoured tradition of bringing out guest performers, RiRi delivered a power-packed performance, thanks to a phalanx of back-up dancers wearing hazmat-style suits and her stylists. Here is a look at some memorable halftime performances from the past.

Blast from the past

Cameras inexorably homed in on global pop sensation Shakira’s petite figure — draped in a short red sequin dress — as she coiled a rope around her wrists while belly-dancing, before spinning the rope in the air and slumping to the floor as the lights went out. She looked into the camera as she ululated, filling the audience with joie de vivre. With a rousing rendition of her evergreen hits, like Chantaje and Waka Waka, among others, she added to the halftime show a dash of Arabic pop, rock, salsa, champeta, and what not!

Jennifer Lopez used the halftime stage to deliver a subtle — nay, a not-so-subtle — political message with a dual American-Puerto Rican flag. Having two Latinas headline the 2020 show was also a fitting nod to the host city of Miami, which has a rich Latin population.

As is de rigueur at the halftime show, Material Girl Madonna made a grand entrance when she performed in 2012. Clad in an elaborate costume, complemented by a headdress, she was carried onstage like Cleopatra by a group of muscle-bound hunks dressed as Roman centurions. To the joy of the 90s brigade, she sang her classic – Vogue.

In 2013, Beyoncé came under a cloud after it was found that she had lip-synced the national anthem at President Obama’s inauguration. But the much-revered songstress had a chance to burnish — or perhaps, salvage — her reputation as a performer just weeks later at the halftime show. From the moment that she sashayed to the front belting out her magnum opus, Crazy in Love, to the moment when fellow Destiny’s Child members sprang out of the stage, her performance was a hair-flipping and bootylicious burst of energy.

It is hard to forget how the stadium brimmed with bad romance when Lady Gaga levitated high in the air while performing in 2017. Or when Katy Perry rode a large robotic tiger in 2015 to sing her hit, Roar, and later appeared with a couple of dancers dressed as sharks.

But it was Michael Jackson who turned the halftime show from a damp squib to a grand, eyeball-grabbing affair when he took the stage in 1993, as he powered through a medley of hits like Billy Jean and Heal the World. Several years later in 2007, Prince — with a guitar slung over his shoulder — belted out hits like Let’s Go Crazy, braving the elements.

The most controversial halftime show in history was the 2004 performance delivered by Cry Me a River singer Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. There was nothing very notable about the show except that a virile Timberlake accidentally tore off a part of Jackson’s corset in the end, exposing her breast. The Federal Communications Commission was inundated with 5,40,000 complaints over Jackson’s breast-baring peccadillo. The showbiz overlords came down heavily on Jackson, apparently declaring her persona non grata at the Grammys.

Hip-hop love

The 2022 halftime show remains my favourite, as it brought together several old school hip-hop artistes. When Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, among others, took the stage, I could connect with it, as I grew up listening to that kind of music. Sameer Singh Sandhu, DJ

Personal choice

When it comes to international artistes, I like Adele and Ed Sheeran. I would like to watch Sheeran perform Perfect and Adele sing Someone Like You at the halftime show. Ragini Tandan, singer