The history behind the iconic Super Bowl halftime show
The Super Bowl Half Time Show: A historyThe Independent, Fox, University of Alabama, AP, CBS, AP, Radio City Productions, Fox NFL, ESPN
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00:00 There's no greater American event than the Super Bowl.
00:05 [Music]
00:19 It's actually the host city who nominates the performers, and they bring it to the NFL.
00:24 And the NFL discusses this with their various boards and their sponsors to see if this is a good fit.
00:30 So, for example, this year, Super Bowl 58, 2024, in Las Vegas, we have Usher.
00:36 [Music]
00:42 We know Usher's had a residency in Las Vegas for the last three-ish years.
00:48 So, Usher being in Las Vegas kind of gives the city of Las Vegas an incentive to promote him,
00:54 because he's also promotion for their commerce, whether that's tourism, the hotel industry, things like that.
01:00 Usher brings people into Vegas.
01:02 Initially, the first decade or so, the Super Bowl halftime performance was HBCU marching band.
01:08 And then into the '70s, you see this change in the dynamic where it's evolved from musical performances to sort of spectacle.
01:17 [Music]
01:24 And then you see Disney kind of take over the halftime show in the 1980s.
01:29 But really, what combined both for the first time ever in the history was in 1993,
01:34 when Michael Jackson performed at the Super Bowl halftime show.
01:38 [Music]
01:47 Music and sports are Americana, right?
01:50 This is conversation topics in barbershops and beauty salons across this nation.
01:55 You know, we're talking about the Super Bowl, but we could also be talking about the latest hip-hop album permeating pop culture at that moment.
02:03 There's no greater American event than the Super Bowl.
02:07 The Super Bowl is an example of American patriotism.
02:11 No matter your political beliefs, your eyes are going to be on the event.
02:16 [Music]