Superstars Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle performing at the halftime show of Super Bowl XXIX held in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on January 29, 1995 between the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers.
Performers rehearse for the half time show at the Superdome in New Orleans on Jan. 24, 1986, ahead of Super Bowl XX between the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears. The performance featured a massive sculpture of the Lombardi Trophy that would be awarded to Chicago later that week. (Source: Frank O’Brien/The Boston Globe)
Super Bowl XV, held at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on January 25, 1981, featured a Mardis Gras Festival theme, complete with detailed floats. That year’s Super Bowl would see the Oakland Raiders defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 27 - 10. (CREDIT: Heinz Kluetmeier/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)
Print ad from January 8, 1978, promoting CBS’s hour-long national special, Super Night at the Super Bowl, a program that served to promote the Super Bowl XII broadcast that would air the following day. The special would include honors and awards for players, musical performances by award-winning acts, and celebrity cameos.
An aerial view of the Super Bowl IX halftime show held at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, LA, January 12, 1957 between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings. The show provided an homage to the city’s jazz roots with the theme A Salute to Duke Ellington. (CREDIT: Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)
Former Super Bowl MVP and champion (’69) Joe Namath during rehearsals for the upcoming Super Night at the Super Bowl, on CBS, set to air on the eve of Super Bowl XII in 1978. (sources: The New York Times / Barton Silverman)
The Super Bowl XI halftime show in 1977, which was produced by The Walt Disney Company and featured the theme “It’s A Small World,” was praised by The New York Times for turning “spectators into participants” through the dynamic and interactive nature of the performance.
After Super Bowl IX, the Wall Street Journal confirmed the 1977 game produced the highest ever ratings for a sports event at the time.
Michael Jackson performing “Heal the World” during the Halftime show of Super Bowl XVII in 1993, Pasadena, CA. (George Rose/Getty Images)
NFL helmet bumper cars raced around the field during halftime of SB VII in the LA Memorial Coliseum on January 14, 1973.
The Grambling State marching band performs on the field during the halftime show of Super Bowl I on January 15, 1967, in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Source: AP news/NFL
Although many praised the halftime show at Super Bowl LVI in 2022 featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and more, some readers of the LA Times did not. Here is a snapshot of their opinions. Source: LA Times
At the end of Coldplay’s halftime performance at Super Bowl L in 2016, the audience flipped over rainbow-colored placards, reading “Believe in Love,” that had been given to them prior to the show. Less than a year after the monumental decision in support of same-sex marriage made in the Supreme court case, Obergefell v Hodges, the NFL, Coldplay, and their fans showed their support of the decision on the world’s biggest stage in Santa Clara, CA. Source: Bustle
The Super Bowl XX champion Chicago Bears dropped “The Super Bowl Shuffle” in the weeks leading up to the game. Dick Meyer, a Chicago-based producer, came up with the idea to profit off of the Bears’ popularity to feed the homeless. Despite its silliness, the song was a hit, with millions of copies sold. However, the song became mired in controversies regarding its ownership and how much of the money actually went to charity.