From The Blues Brothers To The Queen Bee: The Best and Worst Super Bowl Halftime Shows

From about 1968-1990, the Super Bowl Halftime Show was nowhere near what it is today. (They definitely couldn't have bet on it, which you can now using the 888 Sport Super Bowl Betting Guide!)There was less “show” and more “halftime”; it essentially resembled halftime at a high school football game but not as exciting. It was a perfect excuse to go to the bathroom, drink more beer, and eat more food. Sure the NFL tried to make things somewhat entertaining, but the powers that be idea of fun included magicians, Elvis impersonators, lots of flowing cloth--it was more pageantry and less partying.

Finally, the 1990s approached and the NFL figured it was time to up the ante. After a couple of duds that included the likes of New Kids On The Block in ‘91, and Gloria Estefan (synonymous with Miami sunshine and warmth) for some reason headlining a weird winter showcase performance in Minnesota in ‘92, the NFL had had enough. They realized that there were millions of people that wanted to be entertained, and not just by the sport of football. Heck, many of them didn’t really care about the sport, just the party.

So in 1993, in came the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. At last, the spectacle of the game was matched by the spectacle of the halftime show, and thus began the modern halftime show as we know it. There have been some great ones, and some not so great ones, and some “what were they thinking?” moments sprinkled in as well.

While you're checking out the latest Super Bowl betting lines, let’s also take a look at some of the best and worst of them. We’ll start with the bad news first.

The Worst

1994 - Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and The Judds

One year after the great Michael Jackson entertained millions, the NFL gave us what was essentially an episode of ​Hee Haw (​ look it up, kids). Look, we get that country is a very popular genre of music, but there’s nothing about it that screams “spectacle”. You want thrilling, maybe even a little danger, in a Super Bowl halftime show, and this wasn’t that. The NFL played it safe here. Safe is boring.

1997 - Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, John Goodman, James Brown, and ZZ Top

You have a halftime show with ZZ Top and James Brown, two absolute legendary music acts--what could go wrong? Well, you invite three comedians to essentially headline the whole thing and sing soul classics while calling themselves the Blues Brothers. The real Blues Brothers died with Jim’s brother John, so giving this watered down version more stage time than the Godfather of Soul himself was a massive misstep.

2010 - The Who

As fans of The Who, it pains us to put these guys here. But there ain’t no friends in the blogging game. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend had admittedly never even seen an American football game before, nor did they watch any of the DVDs that the NFL gave them of previous halftime show performances. “Bollocks!” they said (probably). They came off as unprepared, playing a medley of their classics that never sounded worse.

2003 - Shania Twain, No Doubt, Sting

Was this some kind of 3-for-1 deal the NFL got in exchange for the performance? I can’t think of three more disparate acts to perform for a halftime show. They each sang one(!) song and then headed out. Many considered this one of Twain’s worst performances, using words like “bomb” to describe it. Not good when you’re the main headliner of the entire show.

2000 - Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, Edward James Olmos

Now this one was a head-scratcher. No “In The Air Tonight” from Collins. No “Dirrty” from Xtina. Instead, they each song an original song that nobody but the powers that be at Disney-owned ABC had ever heard of. Oh, and about that. The game was on ABC that year, and was taking place in Atlanta. Instead of doing a halftime show from the game itself, ABC sent the broadcast to Disneyworld in Florida--where they put on a 12-minute commercial ie halftime show for something called “Disney Millenium Performance”. I’m sure this had to set a record for most people taking a bathroom break during halftime ​at t​ he actual Super Bowl. It was also the last time a halftime show ever used a narrator (Olmos).

The Best

5. Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, Nelly, P. Diddy, Kid Rock (2004)

For some people, this deserves to be on a list of worst halftime shows. There’s an argument for that once you consider the fallout and what happened to Janet “Miss Jackson if you nasty”. The fallout was absolutely ridiculous, idiotic, and should’ve never happened. But if you base a halftime show purely on the music, the excitement, the ​danger, t​ his one had it all, and then some. Music is supposed to excite, and it did here, nip slip be damned. MTV produced it and this pretty much ended their relationship with music (cowards). There aren’t many halftime shows where we can remember where we were when it happened--this was one. Unforgettable.

4. Diana Ross (1996)

You can have your Gagas and your Beyonces, your Mariahs, etc. The ​true ​queen of divas is Diana Ross, and for this halftime performance she put on a show for the ages. Singing some of the most massive and most iconic hits in popular music from her songbook, Ms. Ross dazzled millions of viewers from around the world with multiple wardrobe changes, then when it was all said and done, a helicopter landed and took her away. What an exit. If the NFL gave us Motown every year, we wouldn’t be mad.

3. Aerosmith, NSYNC, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Nelly (2001)

By any musical standards, this shouldn’t have worked. You had ‘70s classic rock icons Aerosmith, cheesy boy band NSYNC, bubble gum pop princess Britney Spears, and rap/R&B artists Nelly and Mary J. Blige, all literally sharing the stage together. Everything should’ve gone wrong--but nothing did. This. Was. Fire. This was the first halftime show to invite people to the field to surround the stage, so it gave it a rock concert vibe and added to the excitement (now that tradition has become kind of rote). You had something for kids and something for their parents, and more Super Bowl halftime shows should cater to every demographic that’s watching. When all parties involved came together to do the iconic “Walk This Way”, including a Nelly rap over a Joe Perry guitar solo, it was as close as we’ve ever gotten to world peace. Just play the video on YouTube, and make sure you have a fire extinguisher nearby.

2. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (2009)

Nothing is as American as football, and nothing is as American as Bruce Springsteen, put the two together and you have just an explosion of America-ness. The Boss played a 14-minute set that was better than most artists two-hour concerts. Unlike other aging rockers who seem to go through the motions, Springsteen showed he was still relevant, that he was prepared, and most important of all, having ​fun. ​Boss forever.

1. (TIE) Prince (2007), Beyonce, Destiny’s Child (2013)

We're putting these two together because they both show what a Super Bowl halftime show can be when the right artist is chosen. Perfection is hard, almost unattainable. ​Almost. T​hese two performances were perfect in every way. Prince ripped through a medley of his own work as well as some from others, showing his virtuosity on the guitar as if we already didn’t know. The coolest part? Him performing “Purple Rain” while it was​ actually raining. Amazing. Beyonce for her efforts proved that girls really do run the world, or at least the halftime show, with an all-female performance. It was hit after hit, and if you weren’t dancing during the entire thing then something was wrong with you. There were so many people who don’t care about football or sports even, but those same people were tuned in to watch her performance. Truly a watershed moment in the history of the halftime show.

This year we’ll see what Shakira and Jennifer Lopez have in store for us. Expect lots of hip-shaking and booty-bumping, and not much clothing.

*Credit to the main photo of this article belongs to David Phillip/Associated Press (Jackson/Timberlake), Chris O'Meara/Associated Press (Prince), Amy Sancetta/Associated Press (Springsteen), David J. Phillip/Associated Press (The Who), Mark Humphrey/Associated Press (Beyonce)