All You Need to Know About the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show
With just over a fortnight to go until the biggest event on the American sporting calendar kicks off at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the excitement is reaching fever pitch. While football fans will be hoping to see their team in the showpiece event, there is also something else to look forward to. The traditional Super Bowl Halftime Show tends to be just as wonderful as the grand showdown between the AFC and NFC champions.
The Halftime Show
Entertainment during football games (pre-game, halftime, post-game) is a regular occurrence at almost all levels of the sport in the United States. Marching bands, musical acts, and big names from the world of showbiz are all part of a long-term relationship between football and entertainment. The Super Bowl Halftime Show can be considered the pinnacle of this relationship and a representation of football’s inherent link to pop culture.
While the Super Bowl is the most-watched televised event in the country every year, audiences tune into the halftime show with just as much interest. It has often been used as a tool to increase television audience for the event as well as create more interest in the sport. In fact, when it comes to music, the halftime show is the most watched televised event of the year. Many leading acts and big-name celebrities have performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show down the years. Its high status and prestige can be gauged from the fact that most artists consider performing on the Super Bowl halftime stage as a career highlight.
After months of speculation and all sorts of rumors swirling around, the lineup of artists set to perform at the Super Bowl LIII halftime show is complete. Maroon 5 will be taking center stage at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They will be joined by Grammy-nominated rapper Travis Scott and Atlanta’s very own hip-hop star Big Boi as guest artists. This is arguably one of the most diverse set of musical genres ever seen for the Super Bowl halftime stage.
The three acts join an illustrious list of musicians who have wowed the Super Bowl audience at halftime. These include the likes of Katy Perry, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, U2, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Missy Elliott, and many others.
Maroon 5 is undoubtedly one of the biggest musical acts of the 21st century. The three-time Grammy winning band has been one of the most enduring artists in pop music. From the time they first arrived on the scene in 1994 as “Kara’s Flowers,” they have won fans the world over with their unique hybrid rock/R&B sound. To date, they have sold more than 53 million albums and 48 million singles around the world with gold and platinum certifications in over 35 countries.
The band first came under the spotlight in 1994 as Kara’s Flowers, headed by lead vocalist Adam Levine. All band members were still in high school at the time. After self-releasing an independent album called We Like Digging, they signed with Reprise Records and released the album The Fourth World which received a mediocre response. As a result of this lukewarm response, the record label ended their association with the band. Subsequently, all band members decided to take a break from music and focus on their college education.
They reemerged in 2001 as Maroon 5 and released the album Songs About Jane the following year. “Harder to Breathe,” the lead single on this album, received lots of airtime and the album reached number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart before gaining platinum certification in 2004. And the year 2005 brought the band’s first Grammy Award for “Best New Artist.”
With 6 albums released to date, Maroon 5 have had many hits and chart-topping singles. Nielsen Music has declared them the most prolific US radio act of 2018. The band’s songs garnered 8.58 billion audience impressions across all monitored stations in the United States.
Travis Scott has established himself as a global superstar. The singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer was recently nominated for a Grammy Award after his third studio album “Astroworld” made headlines by debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200. It was the second-largest debut last year and has since gained platinum certification (according to the RIAA).
Scott’s critically acclaimed album also brought him his first chart-topping single, Sicko Mode on the Billboard Hot 100. With three Grammy nominations (Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song), the Houston native is undoubtedly on top of his game and an appearance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show is only going to enhance his reputation further.
Travis has performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Ellen, Saturday Night Live, and many other television shows. He has also appeared on the cover of Billboard, XXL, GQ, Rolling Stone, GQ Style, and The FADER.
One of Atlanta’s favorite sons, Big Boi can be credited with setting the pace of modern hip-hop in his hometown. The singer, rapper and actor is well-known as one half of the popular hip-hop duo “OutKast,” which released four albums together and won a number of Grammy Awards. They were also the only hip-hop artist in history to win a Grammy for “Album of the Year.”
Big Boi has also had a successful solo career since the turn of the decade. His first solo album “Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty” reached #3 on the Billboard Top 200 in 2010 while also earning a place on the “100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far” by Pitchfork. More high-profile album releases followed before his latest release “Boomiverse” had songs clocking millions of online streams while also ranking in the upper tiers of most music charts.
The Super Bowl Halftime Show tends to be as exciting and engaging as the big game itself. And with such a wonderful artist lineup set to rock the stage, you really don’t want to miss it.
A Few Fun Facts
There are numerous fun facts about the Super Bowl Halftime Show that not many people are aware of. Let us tell you about some of the more intriguing ones.
1-The performance by Michael Jackson in 1993 received higher rating than the game itself. This was the first time in the history of the Super Bowl that network ratings actually went up during halftime.
2-Performers at the Super Bowl Halftime Show don’t get paid for their performances. However, their production expenses are covered while the media buzz and likely boost in sales remains a major positive.
