Ranking the 5 Best Super Bowl Halftime Shows in History

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! This is one of my favorite days of the year because I can forget to count my calories and eat as much Spinach and Artichoke dip as I please. Though let’s be honest: unless you’re a Seahawks or Patriots fan, I reckon most of you are watching tomorrow’s game with your eyes set on two things: cheesy commercials and Bad Bunny’s halftime show performance. In honor of this record-setting show, I wanted to look back and rank my 5 favorite Super Bowl halftime performances of all time. Here they are:

(Disclaimer: Some of these I was either not alive for or too young to appreciate, but you forget that YouTube exists and is free to use. Sue me!)

5. Super Bowl XXVII (1993): Michael Jackson

It’s hard to deny how utterly awesome this halftime show was. Michael Jackson’s 1993 Super Bowl Halftime performance was the definition of aura-farming. The fact that he could stand still, not saying a word for the first two minutes of the performance while the crowd cheered him on, is quite the sight to see. As with all of MJ’s performances, the choreography in this performance is breathtaking: I still get chills every time I see the start of “Billie Jean”, which is such an effortlessly cool live rendition of one of my all-time favorite pop songs.

In my eyes, there are some minor aspects of the performance that keep it from being the best performance of all time. For example, MJ’s chosen setlist left a bit to be desired for me, with “We Are the World” and “Heal the World” not being amongst my favorite songs in his discography. Still, MJ’s 1993 halftime performance is a true spectacle, showcasing the skill of one of the most talented musicians of all time.

4. Super Bowl XLII (2009): Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band

If you haven’t realized by now, I love Bruce Springsteen. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a rockstar with as much flair to his live shows as Springsteen has, and this halftime performance has everything to love from his music. The best way to describe this performance is that it is so much fun, both for the viewer and for how Springsteen and the E-Street Band carry themselves. Bruce and co. look like they’re having a blast on stage, and watching Bruce and Steve Van Zandt riff off of each other throughout the show makes me want to jump through my screen and join the crowd.

Springsteen’s 2009 performance is one of the few examples where I think a traditional live-show setting works in a halftime show. The crowd is almost part of the performance here: seeing thousands of fans jump up and down to “Born to Run” reminds you of the power of live concerts. And the guitar flips on “Glory Days”??? It really makes you forget that Bruce was 60 years old here, so full of energy and charisma that culminates in one of my favorite halftime shows of all time.

3. Super Bowl XLVII (2013): Beyoncé

As one of the few artists to appear on the Super Bowl halftime show more than once, Beyoncé has the rare feat of taking my breath away not once but twice. I do think her headlining performance in 2013 is by far her best appearance on this global stage, and it remains one of the most impressive live concerts I’ve ever seen. The electronic visuals during “Crazy in Love” are completely and utterly stunning, and the light show technology throughout the show adds so much to an already beautiful performance.

I can’t imagine how much stamina and training went into making this show happen. In a thirteen-minute setlist, you can only point to a handful of times where Beyoncé is even remotely resting, and the rest of the time, she is mixing complicated choreographies with insane vocal control. You can tell that so much precision and practice went into making Beyoncé’s 2013 halftime show work, which is why I think it is more than deserving of my #3 spot.

2. Super Bowl LI (2017): Lady Gaga

NRG Stadium, where the Houston Texans play, stands 260 feet tall, and after belting “God Bless America” from its absolute peak, Lady Gaga drops down to crowd level like it was nothing. As someone who is deathly scared of heights, I get queasy every time I watch this performance, but because Lady Gaga is a true performer, it doesn’t seem to affect her at all.

And somehow, the rest of the performance overshadows this incredible feat, with Lady Gaga pulling off some of the most wildly impressive physical achievements I’ve ever seen in a live show. Not only does she perform a stacked setlist of pop bangers (“Born This Way” and “Bad Romance”, to name a few), but she somehow manages to mix in perfect choreography, wardrobe changes, and acrobatic performing from heights. Lady Gaga’s 2017 performance sets the standard for what a pop performance is capable of, one that I think many shows since 2017 have, for the most part, unsuccessfully tried to replicate.

1. Super Bowl XLI (2007): Prince

Was there any question as to what would be my #1? I mean, it’s Prince. I wasn’t even three years old when Prince performed at Super Bowl 41; I was still wearing a bib and was probably crying all the time. But this halftime show has had such a profound impact on how I view live music today.

Let me set the stage: it’s a dark February night in Miami Gardens, Florida, rain falling torrentially on a crowd of eager-waiting fans, and Prince starts the show by saying, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” The inclement weather stopped nobody during this performance: fans sprinted to the front stage as “Let’s Go Crazy” echoed throughout the stadium, and Prince kept playing guitar as if it were warm and sunny (speaking of which, if you weren’t already convinced that Prince is one of the best guitarists of all time, do yourself a favor and watch this halftime show).

Watching Prince finish an already legendary showing with “Purple Rain” makes you forget that a football game was even being played. The circumstances were so perfect and the musicianship so powerful that it almost feels wrong that this bookended a somewhat forgettable Super Bowl game. Prince’s 2007 halftime show is, simply put, a spectacle of greatness that I think no musician has ever managed to surpass on America’s biggest stage, and an experience that, whenever I am asked to talk about the greatest live musical performances in recent history, I can point to and say, “You’re in for quite the show”. It was as if lightning struck on that dreamy Floridian night (no pun intended).