Picture Courtesy of Rolling Stone
On January 15th, 1967, the first Super Bowl halftime show aired on
national television in the United States. Approximately 24 million people watched the
Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Green Bay Packers. For the halftime festivities, a
humble marching band, the Symphonic Marching Band from the University of Arizona,
played/performed “The Liberty Bell” for the crowd. Like the Star Spangled Banner, the
show seemed like another pure moment of patriotism uniting all people living in the
land of the free, a.k.a America. Who would have ever thought that 56 years later, 125
million people would watch a monochromatically-clad pregnant superstar, Rihanna,
perform from her astounding catalog of hits in mid-air? The Super Bowl halftime show
can be simply described as the moment for an artist or a group to reach the pinnacle of
their career in 15 minutes. It can also be a moment for controversy. In 2004, Janet
Jackson’s breast was partially exposed by Justin Timberlake during the performance.
Some argue the moment had great repercussions for Janet Jackson’s career even after a
public apology from both artists. In 2022, the artist Eminem finished singing and took a
knee in homage to football player Colin Kaepernick. At that moment, Eminem took the
risk of inviting political opinion to the performance. The show is also a time when many
artists, whether solo or part of an ensemble, invite other guest artists onto the stage to
collaborate or perform a song they created together. What do all of these moments do?
They add an air of mystery and excitement to the show.
Approximately 5 million additional people watched Rihanna’s halftime show in relation
to the total viewers who watched the actual football game. People sported t-shirts
playfully stating how “cute” it was that there was a football game in the middle of a
Rihanna concert. Rihanna’s performance was simple enough. She performed many of her
greatest hits and was the first pregnant performer and female billionaire to ever grace the
stage. Impressive. But where does that leave Rihanna’s actual performance in the context
of all of the halftime shows we have watched?
In 2013, megastar Beyoncé performed some of her solo hits and then invited
Kelly Roland and Michelle Williams to recreate Destiny’s Child. In the Fieldston News
ranking, we place this show in the number one slot for the best halftime show in history.
Beyoncé paid homage to her Destiny’s Child roots and sang and danced with perfection.
In 2007, Prince took the stage in Miami in the middle of a thunderstorm and performed a
Foo Fighters’ song, a Queen song and his famous guitar solo from “Purple Rain.” We
place him at number 2, along with the regard as having one of the best shows in
American culture. In 2022, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, and
Kendrick Lamar, engaged in a riveting old school look into the history of West Coast rap.
Highlights included Mary J. Blige singing solo and 50 Cent hanging upside down to
recreate his iconic look from the “In Da Club” music video. The results were electric. We
place this at number 3. In 2009, Bruce Springsteen performed a 14-minute set with “Born
to Run” and “Glory Days” in the mix. It felt like a true homage to the country. We place
his show at number 4. Rounding out the top 5 is Diana Ross who, in 1996, lowered
herself onto the stage on a crane made of sparklers. She performed some of her solo hits
as well as some of her greatest songs while in the Supremes. Ms. Ross rounds out our top
5 for blazing a trail that many female performers would follow. Interestingly enough, Ms.
Ross had no guests onstage and some people argued that parts of her performance were
clumsy, and even poorly produced.
Did Rihanna lip-sync her performance? Many critics, including D.J Howard Stern
seem to think so. Ironically, all of the performances, for all artists, are pre-recorded and
the artist decides in the moment how much they want to sing live. This makes sense
considering over 100 million people are watching and the accompanying dance routines
and stage maneuvers are too breathtaking to perform while singing at the same time. Like
Diana Ross, Rihanna had no guests. Many people half expected Jay Z to come out of the
audience and join her for a song. Other people assumed Drake would appear to join her
for one of their duets. Most people might argue that Rihanna’s biggest gamble was
putting herself in front of ⅓ of the population of all of the United States, pregnant and
solo, to perform at one would certainly say, is the high point of her career. Some of us
even wondered if her husband, ASAP Rocky, would come out of the stands and join her
in support or in song. Was it the anticipation or these expectations that changed how we
viewed Rihanna’s performance? Quite possibly. Watching the show, it was amazing to
relive the multitude of iconic hits this illustrious artist has performed in her career. Some
people argued that the dancers outfits and her stopping mid-performance to apply some
her own Fenty makeup made it feel a little bit like a commercial for her products.
Nonetheless, her performance seemed almost too simple or unadorned by all the bells and
whistles and drama Americans have come to expect of these 15 minutes in the middle of
a football game. Bottom line? Rihanna sounded amazing. It’s astounding to consider the
bravery of performing in front of that many people when vulnerable and pregnant. The biggest gamble was that she simply relied on the strength of her talent. We place her at
number 6.
