Football Rocks! Part 1

03/16/2015

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The NFL ends each football season with the most viewed music show of the year during halftime of the Super Bowl. Now, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is kicking off the football season with the Concert for Legends featuring music superstar Tim McGraw. ProFootballHOF.com is taking a look at the history of music and its relationship with the NFL in this special “Football Rocks” series.

Part 1 - Super Bowl Halftime History | Part 2 - Female Super Bowl Performers | Part 3 - Celebs Love Football | Part 4 - Aerosmith and Football | Part 5 - Tim McGraw's Passion for the Game | Inaugural Concert for Legends Recap

By: Jason Rentner (@Jay25R)

Super Bowl 50’s halftime show featured British rock band Coldplay. The show started off with a bang as fireworks exploded in the air and fans rushed by Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin to the stage as he sang one of their hit songs “Yellow” on the field. Martin quickly followed and made his way to the colorful stage, which featured bright flowers that covered the instruments and vibrant graphics on the ground, and performed more of the band’s hits. Coldplay also brought some Uptown Funk and girl power with the help from Bruno Mars and Beyoncé. They helped pay tribute to the past, present and future Super Bowl performances.

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Super Bowl XLIX halftime show was the most watched halftime performance in television history. Grammy-nominated pop star Katy Perry attracted an audience of around 118.5 million viewers to watch her ride in on a giant animatronic lion and perform some of her hits with special guests Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliot.

Super Bowl halftime shows didn’t always have pop star flash and pyrotechnics. Like the popularity of the sport, the entertainment has evolved over the years.

The first few decades of Super Bowl halftime performances featured marching bands by both local high schools and universities coupled with a solo artist such as Al Hirt or Ella Fitzgerald. A few other early acts included the performing arts group Up With People and the Rockettes.

Over the years, the acts just kept getting bigger and more popular.

It wasn’t until Super Bowl XXVII when the NFL featured their first super star performer, Michael Jackson. The “King of pop” put on an unforgettable performance that electrified the nation.

The NFL continueds to make a spectacle of the halftime performances by featuring legendary artists and bands such as Aerosmith.

There is no longer a need for the league to search for halftime performers. Artists today are lining up to play during intermission of the the NFL’s championship game.

Here’s the full list of every Super Bowl performance:

Super Bowl I (Jan. 15, 1967) - University of Arizona Band, Grambling College Band, trumpeter Al Hirt

Super Bowl II (Jan. 14, 1968) - Coral Gables, Hialeah, Miami Carol City, Miami Palmetto, Miami Senior, Northwestern Senior, Southwest Miami Senior

Super Bowl III (Jan. 12, 1969) - Florida A&M; University Marching Band

Super Bowl IV (Jan. 11, 1970) - Southern University Band, Al Hirt, Marguerite Piazza, Lionel Hampton, Doc Severinson

Super Bowl V (Jan. 17, 1971) - Anita Bryant, Southeast Missouri State Band

Super Bowl VI (Jan. 16, 1972) - Ella Fitzgerald, Carol Channing, Al Hirt, U.S. Marine Corps Drill Team

Super Bowl VII (Jan. 14, 1973) - Andy Williams, University of Michigan Band, Woody Herman Band

Super Bowl VIII (Jan. 13, 1974) - University of Texas Band

Super Bowl IX (Jan. 12, 1975) - Mercer Ellington and Grambling State University Band

Super Bowl X (Jan. 18, 1976) - Up With People

Super Bowl XI (Jan. 9, 1977) - L.A. Unified All-City Band

Super Bowl XII (Jan. 15, 1978) - Tyler Apache Belles, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt

Super Bowl XIII (Jan. 21, 1979) - Jamaican folk singer Ken Hamilton and various Caribbean bands

Super Bowl XIV (Jan. 20, 1980) - Up With People, Grambling State University Marching Band

Super Bowl XV (Jan. 25, 1981) - Southern University Band, Helen O'Connell

Super Bowl XVI (Jan. 24, 1982) - Up With People

Super Bowl XVII (Jan. 30, 1983) - Los Angeles Super Drill Team

Super Bowl XVIII (Jan. 22, 1984) - University of Florida and Florida State University bands

Super Bowl XIX (Jan. 20, 1985) - U.S. Air Force Band: "Tops in Blue"

Super Bowl XX (Jan. 26, 1986) - Up With People

Super Bowl XXI (Jan. 25, 1987) - Grambling, George Burns, Mickey Rooney, Southern California high school drill teams and dancers

Super Bowl XXII (Jan. 31, 1988) - Chubby Checker, Rockettes

Super Bowl XXIII (Jan. 22, 1989) - South Florida-area dancers, Magician Elvis Presto

Super Bowl XXIV (Jan. 28, 1990) - Pete Fountain, Doug Kershaw, Irma Thomas

Super Bowl XXV (Jan. 27, 1991) - New Kids on the Block

Super Bowl XXVI (Jan. 26, 1992) - Gloria Estefan, Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamil

Super Bowl XXVII (Jan. 31, 1993) - Michael Jackson (plus 3,500 local children)

Super Bowl XXVIII (Jan. 30, 1994) - Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, the Judds

Super Bowl XXIX (Jan. 29, 1995) - Tony Bennett, Patti LaBelle, Arturo Sandoval, the Miami Sound Machine

Super Bowl XXX (Jan. 28, 1996) - Diana Ross

Super Bowl XXXI (Jan. 26, 1997) - The Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, James Belushi), James Brown, ZZ Top

Super Bowl XXXII (Jan. 25, 1998) - Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, Temptations, Queen Latifah, Grambling University Marching Band

Super Bowl XXXIII (Jan. 31, 1999) - Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, dancer Savion Glover

Super Bowl XXXIV (Jan. 30, 2000) - Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton

Super Bowl XXXV, Jan. 28, 2001 - Aerosmith, N'SYNC, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Nelly

Super Bowl XXXVI (Feb. 3, 2002) - U2

Super Bowl XXXVII (Jan. 26, 2003) - Shania Twain, No Doubt, Sting

Super Bowl XXXVIII (Feb. 1, 2004) - Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, Kid Rock, Nelly

Super Bowl XXXIX (Feb. 6, 2005) - Paul McCartney

Super Bowl XL (Feb. 5, 2006) - The Rolling Stones

Super Bowl XLI (Feb. 4, 2007) - Prince

Super Bowl XLII (Feb. 3, 2008) - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Super Bowl XLIII (Feb. 1, 2009) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Super Bowl XLIV (Feb. 7, 2010) - The Who

Super Bowl XLV (Feb. 6, 2011) - Black Eyed Peas

Super Bowl XLVI (Feb. 5, 2012) - Madonna with Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., LMFAO, CeeLo Green

Super Bowl XLVII (Feb. 3, 2013) - Beyoncé, Destiny's Child

Super Bowl XLVIII (Feb. 2, 2014) - Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Super Bowl XLIX (Feb. 1, 2015) - Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott