An illustrated history of the Super Bowl Halftime Show
In the beginning, the mission of the Super Bowl halftime show was to fill time and entertain fans who weren’t stuck in lines at the concession stands or the bathrooms. As the NFL and its championship grew and evolved, the halftime show did as well, until a crazy afternoon in 1993 when Michael Jackson drew more eyeballs than the game. Here’s a look at every Super Bowl halftime show, in all its cheese-tastic glory.
By Bonnie Berkowitz and Lazaro Gamio
Early Super Bowls, like the still-maturing NFL, drew less press and prestige than many college games. Their earnest, patriotic halftimes featured marching bands, usually from nearby schools.
Big names from the world of entertainment are pulled in as the game begins to transcend sports, although the marching bands refused to yield.
Who'd have thought the impossibly large stage productions of the Rolling Stones, Prince and Beyoncé would trace their roots to Up With People?
The recruitment of bona fide superstar Michael Jackson caused a change in viewers' behavior. Millions apparently opted to go to the bathroom around the two-minute warning, as halftime ratings surpassed ratings for the actual game for the first time.
This is subjective, of course — and it's not to say that past-their-prime stars haven't appeared before. But after Nipplegate, the NFL and networks booted MTV and lined up some long-in-the-tooth superstars whose edgier days were behind them. Mostly, these were single acts, but never fear! The bizarre ensembles and some younger pop stars come back in 2011.
Guys with guitars yielded the stage to sheer sensory overload as a (mostly) fresh crop of pop stars tried to pack a year's worth of over-the-top crazy into a dozen trippy minutes.
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Sources: NFL; Nielsen; Billboard; Pro-Football-Reference.com; U.S. Department of Defense; Up With People; Grambling University; Florida State University; Florida A&M; and the universities of Michigan, Arizona, Texas, Florida; Robert Jani obituary in the Los Angeles Times; The American Folklife Center; Animal Planet. Published Jan. 29, 2015. Updated Feb. 1, 2018.
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