The Best Super Bowl Halftime Shows of All Time

The performances rocked, but would have been much more enjoyable had they fixed the sound system…

Two words made this Halftime Show go viral: Left Shark.

A classic choice.

His performance has been underrated because it’s obviously not as flashy as some of the others, but Petty’s set was filled with rock-solid hits, “American Girl,” “Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’,” and “Running Down a Dream.” But 10 years ago, he came, he delivered, he smiled. May he RIP.

No nipples in this one, and reviews about his solo performance were mixed.

“I want you to step back from the guacamole dip, I want you to put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up,” the singer said onstage. Whatever you say, Boss.

The boys in the band are going to be able rock the house until they’re six feet under—and if you know how they used to party, you know that probably should have happened a long time ago. No matter when or where Stones have performed, Mick Jagger and his unruly lads have brought it for the past 55 years and that was certainly the case when they started the crowd up with tunes like “Rough Justice” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

Basically every single person in music industry was on this Super Bowl stage. It was pandemonium. The show was during the height of boy bands, popstars and bubblegum tunes. The pre-9/11 performance happened in a simpler, more innocent time—back when Spears and Timberlake were still a power couple, when BritBrit still hadn’t had a breakdown, when ‘NSYNC was still in sync with each other and when the world still believed A-listers could stay together forever. 

It was a spectacular spectacle, complete with Cleopatra costume, a gospel choir, and some type of cheerleader outfit-type thingy. We felt it. You felt it. Football felt it.

In his first play (or song rather), Sting stung the audience with his update on his classic, “Message in a Bottle.” Gwen Stefani came out to the crowd rocking her washboard abs, baggy pants and glittering bustier. The whole thing was a blast and the crowd was loving it.

The former Supremes singer was nothing short of supreme when she rocked the house at the Halftime Show. The queen did an amazing four costume changes in 12 minutes. The timeless entertainer belted “You Keep Me Hanging on”, “Baby Love” and “I Will Survive” before heading out on a helicopter, as one does when you’re Diana Ross.

After lip-syncing the national anthem at Obama’s second inauguration the month before, Bey knew she needed to bring it to the Super Bowl—and that’s just what she did. Jay-Z‘s lady love made it clear as day that she was singing live at the Superdome in New Orleans, breaking down the vocals and wowing the crowd. Midway through she basically gave fans a heart attack when Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland joined her onstage for a Destiny’s Child reunion. Slay, Bey, slaaaaaaaay!

Lady G didn’t raise the roof, she sang “God Bless America” and then she literally jumped off it. Well, sort of. After that high-flying start, the superstar singer broke into “Poker Face.” It was thrilling; it was over the top; it was all Gaga all the time and fans went gaga for it. There was no meat dress, no blood, no giant glowing egg—just an action-packed performance that made you think that the “Bad Romance” singer was born to be on the 50-yard line. 

In a masterful move that only the King of Pop could have the audacity to pull off, MJ stood on stage for a full 90 seconds (remember you only get 13 minutes tops) without moving. The smooth criminal had the audience in the palm of his hand when he busted into “Jam.” The master performer then broke into “Billie Jean” and “Black or White.” There were fedoras, crotch grabs, leg spins (and kicks) and oh-so-much entertainment. The pop star then used the entire audience in Rose Bowl to create giant portraits of kids as he sung “Heal the World.”

The artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince perfected the Super Bowl Halftime show when he performed “We Will Rock You”, “Let’s Go Crazy”, “Baby I’m a Star”, “Proud Mary”, “All Along the Watchtower”, “Best of You”, and, of course, “Purple Rain”—during a downpour!