
I’m not gonna lie and say that I’ve watched every Super Bowl Half-time performance since the 80’s, because I haven’t. I do remember watching Michael Jackson in 1993, but after the Raiders and the Rams left LA between 1994 and 1995, the NFL lost me. At that time my mother shifted my attention to Dodger games and Laker games at The Forum.
The next few halftime performances I remember watching intentionally started in 2004 – Janet Jackson + Justin Timberlake = Nipple-gate, Prince in 2007, The Black Eyed Peas + Usher in 2011, and Madonna in 2012. In the last decade, I’ve faithfully watched the Super Bowl anticipating the halftime performance. The NFL definitely got hip and started leaning more towards booking R&B and Hip-Hop performers.
After watching Rihanna’s performance last night, I went into a YouTube frenzy rewatching all the performances from the last 10 years. Here are my favorites (in order by year). Click on the year/artist to watch the vid, YouTube is hating on embed sharing (eye roll).
2013: Beyonce – The Queen
2014: Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers – My Half-Filipino Brethren
2016: Coldplay, Beyonce, Bruno Mars – I love Coldplay’s older songs, but it was Bruno and Beyonce for me, lol.
2017: Lady Gaga – Miss Stefanie Germonatta can dance and sing her ass off.
2020: Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Emme Muniz – I stan over Parris Goebel choreography
2022: Eminem, Dr. Dre. Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige – LA! West Coast! Crip Walking in Khaki suits!!
2023: Rihanna – Parris Goebel choreo, the top tier staging & the way it was shot, a hit catalog, and a pregnancy reveal. I was here for it!