Rewriting Super Bowl Halftime History - tkingie/rate-stuff GitHub Wiki

This is my attempt to rewrite the history of Super Bowl halftime shows with the benefit of hindsight and applying a modern standard of production value and prestige throughout the show's history.

1993 (Michael Jackson):

  • Hard to change much because it very much pioneered the format, but I rearranged it so you have the rock songs first (with the addition of Beat It), then the more pop/R&B songs, then the ballad section.
  1. Black or White / Beat It
  2. Jam / Billie Jean
  3. We Are The World / Heal the World

1994 (Rock n' Soul - Tina Turner, John Fogerty & Tom Petty feat. ZZ Top and The Blues Brothers):

  • My replacement for the country show, this is a rock show but with Southern and Southern-adjacent acts to capture the same demographic. I stole the finale (and the Blues Brothers/ZZ Top) from the 1997 show.
  1. Fortunate Son (John Fogerty solo)
  2. Proud Mary (John Fogerty & Tina Turner)
  3. River Deep Mountain High (Tina Turner solo)
  4. Free Fallin' / American Girl (Tom Petty solo)
  5. Gimme Some Lovin' (The Blues Brothers & ZZ Top with Tina Turner, John Fogerty & Tom Petty)

1995 (Indiana Jones - Elton John, Gloria Estefan & Paul Simon):

  • Extremely camp conceptually, but I think they could've even more leaned into it with more thematic music. Gloria is moved here from her dual headliner show with Stevie Wonder.
  1. Crocodile Rock / Saturday Night's Alright (Elton John solo)
  2. Conga / Get On Your Feet (Gloria Estefan solo)
  3. You Can Call Me Al / Mrs. Robinson (Paul Simon solo)
  4. Circle of Life / Rocket Man (all)

1996 (Diana Ross):

  • One of the best halftime shows especially for this era, but could be better organized into a Supremes medley followed by a disco medley. "Take Me Higher" is an irrelevant song in the long run which is something I'm trying to avoid, but she exits the stadium in a helicopter during it which is iconic.
  1. Stop! In the Name of Love
  2. Where Did Our Love Go / You Keep Me Hangin' On / You Can't Hurry Love
  3. I'm Coming Out / Upside Down / Love Hangover
  4. Ain't No Mountain High Enough / Take Me Higher

1997 (Funk & Disco - James Brown, Donna Summer and Earth Wind & Fire):

  • With ZZ Top and the Blues Brothers moved to the 1994 show, this has room for a more cohesive genre theme. Another consideration is adding Kool & the Gang just to have Celebration as the closer, but September is strong enough and Earth Wind & Fire is a more iconic act overall.
  1. I Got You / Get Up / Super Bad (James Brown solo)
  2. It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World (James Brown with Donna Summer)
  3. Bad Girls / Hot Stuff (Donna Summer solo)
  4. Last Dance (Donna Summer solo)
  5. Let's Groove / September (Earth Wind & Fire with James Brown and Donna Summer)

1998 (Motown 40 - Stevie Wonder & Boyz II Men feat. Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Martha Reeves):

  • This one was very specifically timed, but I moved Stevie Wonder here considering he started his career on Motown. Arguably he could get a full show considering his discography, but his physical limitations would make that difficult to make interesting visually.
  1. Sir Duke (Stevie Wonder solo)
  2. I Wish / Signed, Sealed, Delivered / Superstition (Stevie Wonder with Martha Reeves)
  3. Motownphilly / End of the Road (Boyz II Men solo)
  4. Get Ready / My Girl / Heat Wave / I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Martha Reeves & Stevie Wonder with Boyz II Men)

1999 (Whitney Houston feat. Chaka Khan):

  • Timed here in conjunction with the My Love Is Your Love era. The number of ballads she has made this a little difficult, but a Chaka Khan assist fills it out well enough.
  1. The Star-Spangled Banner
  2. How Will I Know / I Wanna Dance With Somebody
  3. It's Not Right But It's Okay
  4. I'm Every Woman / Higher Love (with Chaka Khan)
  5. I Will Always Love You / My Love Is Your Love

2000 (Disney's Millennium - Phil Collins, Celine Dion, Patti LaBelle & Tony Bennett):

  • The only show to use mostly original music and have long instrumental sections, I focused this in on more recognizable Disney music (from more established stars) because I'm not opposed to the concept of a Disney halftime show for the year 2000 on paper.
  1. Once Upon a Dream (Celine Dion solo)
  2. Two Hearts / You'll Be in My Heart (Phil Collins solo)
  3. When You Wish Upon a Star / A Whole New World (Patti LaBelle & Tony Bennett)
  4. Beauty and the Beast (Celine Dion & Phil Collins)
  5. It's A Small World / Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (all)

2001 (Battle of the Bands - Aerosmith, NSYNC & Red Hot Chili Peppers feat. Run-DMC):

  • Similar to the existing concept except the Walk This Way finale is shortened to accommodate Red Hot Chili Peppers moving here from the guest appearance at the Bruno Mars show.
  1. I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (Aerosmith solo)
  2. Tearin' Up My Heart / Bye Bye Bye (NSYNC solo)
  3. Californication / Give It Away (Red Hot Chili Peppers solo)
  4. Dream On (Aerosmith solo)
  5. Walk This Way (all with Run-DMC)

2002 (Bruce Springsteen):

  • I know very little about Springsteen's music but I think he would be a better pick for post-9/11 than U2. All I did to the setlist was replace his 2008 single with Born in the USA which he somehow did not do for his real show.
  1. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
  2. Born to Run
  3. Glory Days
  4. Born in the USA

2003 (Canadian Queens - Shania Twain & Alanis Morrisette):

  • Both feel like they have half a discography for it so I'm putting them together on a weak theme, which in fairness is more of a theme than the actual combo of Shania/Sting/No Doubt had.
  1. Any Man of Mine (Shania solo)
  2. That Don't Impress Me Much / I'm Gonna Getcha Good! (Shania solo)
  3. Ironic / Hands Clean (Alanis solo)
  4. Head Over Feet / You're Still the One (Alanis and Shania)
  5. Man! I Feel Like a Woman! / You Oughta Know (Alanis and Shania)

2004 (Janet Jackson feat. Paula Abdul):

  • One of the messiest shows formatwise even ignoring the big scandal, Janet easily could've anchored her own show. Thankfully, this is peak Idol so a guest spot by her friend and choreographer Paula Abdul does not feel too out of place.
  1. Black Cat
  2. All For You / Miss You Much / Rhythm Nation
  3. Nasty / What Have You Done For Me Lately / Control / Straight Up / Cold Hearted (with Paula Abdul)
  4. Together Again

2005 (Paul McCartney feat. Ringo Starr):

  • A reasonable dad rock pick that happened this year. I took out Drive My Car for being a wild pick given his catalog, and added more songs in general (with a tribute to George and John for the ballad segment with Ringo).
  1. Eleanor Rigby / Live and Let Die
  2. Get Back / Can't Buy Me Love
  3. Coming Up / Band on the Run
  4. Here Comes the Sun / In My Life (with Ringo Starr)
  5. Hey Jude

2006 (Mariah Carey feat. George Michael & Jermaine Dupri):

  • Another artist that obviously deserves (especially at this point in her career) but has a ballad-heavy discography, which makes constructing a setlist difficult. Starts with a bubblegum upbeat segment, then into a more hip-hop medley DJed by Jermaine Dupri, then the big essential ballad for this time period. For the finale, I went with a George Michael guest because he can compete and elevate the moment vocally and she covered One More Try on a later album so she's clearly a fan.
  1. Emotions / Dreamlover
  2. It's Like That / Shake It Off / Fantasy Remix / Honey / Heartbreaker (with Jermaine Dupri)
  3. We Belong Together
  4. One More Try / One Sweet Day (with George Michael)

2007 (Prince feat. Foo Fighters):

  • A very beloved show that I do not think needs much tweaking. That said, I think there is room for more of his own hits and for the covers to be more focused with a Foo Fighters cameo (as he covered Best of You in the real show).
  1. We Will Rock You / Let's Go Crazy
  2. When Doves Cry / Kiss / 1999
  3. Smells Like Teen Spirit / All Along the Watchtower / Best of You (with Foo Fighters)
  4. Purple Rain

2008 (U2 feat. Mary J. Blige):

  • This one I have as mostly filler because there is nothing tying U2 to this time period. New setlist fits in more of their hits because their real one was only three songs somehow. The Mary J. Blige feature adds some more excitement to the finale, as she covered the song in 2006 as a single from her album that year.
  1. The Saints Are Coming / Vertigo
  2. Where The Streets Have No Name / Beautiful Day
  3. Pride / Sunday Bloody Sunday
  4. With Or Without You
  5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / One (with Mary J. Blige)

2009 (Madonna feat. Britney Spears):

  • Rather than being tied to the MDNA era and LMFAO for some reason, this version ties into her greatest hits era. I think this is the best possible timing for a Britney appearance in terms of her personal life, and I did not want to exclude her entirely given that she's probably blacklisted irl.
  1. Hung Up / 4 Minutes / Open Your Heart
  2. Into the Groove / Vogue / Music
  3. Holiday / Like a Virgin / Material Girl / Baby One More Time (with Britney Spears)
  4. Like a Prayer

2010 (New York, New York - Billy Joel & Jay-Z):

  • A New York themed collaboration (ignore that the Super Bowl was not hosted in New York this year) based on Jay's huge era with The Blueprint 3 this year and probably not having enough workable songs for a full show.
  1. Young Forever (Billy Joel & Jay-Z)
  2. Only the Good Die Young / Movin' Out (Billy Joel solo)
  3. Piano Man (Billy Joel solo)
  4. Public Service Announcement / 99 Problems (Jay-Z solo)
  5. Izzo / Hard Knock Life / Big Pimpin' / Dirt Off Your Shoulder (Jay-Z solo)
  6. New York State of Mind / Empire State of Mind (Billy Joel & Jay-Z)

2011 (The Rolling Stones & The Black Eyed Peas):

  • Obviously an odd pairing but Mick Jagger and will.i.am collaborated later this year so they were clearly on good terms, plus he seems like the type to be down to do something weird like this.
  1. Start Me Up / Let's Get It Started / Pump It (The Rolling Stones and The Black Eyed Peas)
  2. Gimme Shelter / Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones solo)
  3. Satisfaction (The Rolling Stones and Fergie)
  4. I Gotta Feeling (The Black Eyed Peas)
  5. Boom Boom Pow / The Time (The Black Eyed Peas)
  6. Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones and The Black Eyed Peas)

2012 (Usher feat. Alicia Keys, Lil Jon & Ludacris):

  • Usher felt especially untouchable coming off the Raymond v. Raymond era so it's crazy it took another 10+ years to get a show from him. Also, having this not on the anniversary of Confessions means I can take out those random album cuts he put in.
  1. More / DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love
  2. You Make Me Wanna / My Way / U Remind Me / U Don't Have to Call / Caught Up
  3. OMG
  4. Burn / My Boo / If I Ain't Got You (with Alicia Keys)
  5. Yeah! (with Lil Jon & Ludacris)

2013 (Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z & Timbaland):

  • This is one of the ones that benefits most from moving it up a few years, because the 2018 one was embarrassingly super visually tied to the Man of the Woods era. Also, "Can't Stop The Feeling" hasn't dropped yet so "Mirrors" can be the proper closer it deserves to be.
  1. Like I Love You / Rock Your Body / Señorita
  2. SexyBack / My Love / LoveStoned (with Timbaland)
  3. Cry Me A River / What Goes Around... / Dead and Gone
  4. Suit & Tie (with Jay-Z)
  5. Mirrors

2014 (Coldplay feat. The Who):

  • I don't think Coldplay were very well equipped to handle the task of tributing all of the previous shows, and this would serve as a teaser for their Ghost Stories era after a few years off. The Who is moved here from their (somewhat undeserving) solo show because they fit well together with "Clocks".
  1. Yellow / Paradise
  2. Viva La Vida
  3. Fix You / The Scientist
  4. Baba O'Riley / Clocks (with The Who)

2015 (Rihanna feat. Kanye West):

  • This would have been part of the Anti rollout (despite the album taking another full year to actually release, lol) and has Kanye at possibly his most stable, hence my decision to place him here. Also, this fixes the problem of her 2023 show having a very scattered setlist by having a clear dance -> rock -> island vibes progression for the first half of the show.
  1. Don't Stop The Music / We Found Love
  2. Umbrella / Hard / Run This Town
  3. Pon De Replay / Rude Boy / What's My Name
  4. FourFiveSeconds / Heartless / All of the Lights (with Kanye West)
  5. Diamonds

2016 (Bruno Mars feat. Sting):

  • Bruno had the fastest ascension to Super Bowl headliner status of any artist (if you ignore that Disney show) so this pushes him back by two years to include Uptown Funk and also put him in charge of the anniversary tribute, which works very well considering MJ and Prince are probably the two highest regarded shows. I switched out his rock guest to Sting because of the Locked Out of Heaven comparisons at the time, plus I cut him from the 2003 show.
  1. Uptown Funk
  2. Treasure
  3. Let's Go Crazy / Black or White / Come Together / Dream On (tribute to past Super Bowl Halftimes)
  4. Locked Out of Heaven / Message in a Bottle / Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (with Sting)
  5. When I Was Your Man / Just The Way You Are

2017 (Katy Perry feat. Lenny Kravitz & Missy Elliott):

  • Basically unchanged, except it ties into the beginning of the Witness era so we get "Chained to the Rhythm."
  1. Roar
  2. Dark Horse / I Kissed a Girl / California Gurls (with Lenny Kravitz)
  3. Chained to the Rhythm / Teenage Dream / Last Friday Night (with Missy Elliott)
  4. Get Ur Freak On / Work It / Lose Control (Missy Elliott solo)
  5. Firework

2018 (Green Day & Fall Out Boy):

  • First show to be booked after Trump's election, which I think would justify Green Day's appearance enough. Fall Out Boy is a nice complement given that they're not too serious but the two bands toured together around this time. The finale is very up in the air to me, but I saw that Green Day covered it before and Patrick Stump has the vocals for it.
  1. American Idiot (Green Day solo)
  2. Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day solo)
  3. Centuries (Fall Out Boy solo)
  4. Thnks fr th Mmrs / Dance, Dance (Fall Out Boy solo)
  5. Good Riddance (Green Day & Fall Out Boy)
  6. We Are The Champions (Green Day & Fall Out Boy)

2019 (Beyoncé feat. Destiny's Child):

  • I know it seems insane to hold off so long on giving Bey a show, but it just feels wrong that her headlining appearance was pre-self titled. This would essentially serve as an abridged version of Beychella which would've been the previous year.
  1. Crazy In Love
  2. Formation / Sorry / Drunk In Love / Diva
  3. Lose My Breath / Independent Women (with Destiny's Child)
  4. Single Ladies / Check On It (with Destiny's Child)
  5. Love On Top / Halo

2020 (Eminem feat. Pink):

  • I was between him and Justin Bieber for this year, but considering how much Scooter wanted Changes to be a thing I just couldn't justify putting Yummy on a setlist. The guest spot could go to Rihanna (although I think she would decline), but I could not justify giving Pink her own show elsewhere (as acrobatic as it would be) at any given point so she lands here.
  1. Sing For The Moment / Berzerk
  2. The Real Slim Shady / Without Me
  3. Rap God
  4. Love the Way You Lie / Stan (with Pink)
  5. Lose Yourself

2021 (The Weeknd):

  • Minimal changes, all I did was add False Alarm to the manic mirror segment and cut Earned It to give more room for the other songs to breathe. You could theoretically do an Ariana Grande guest appearance but I think the show is so visually tight already that it would be a weird departure.
  1. Call Out My Name / Starboy / The Hills
  2. Can't Feel My Face / False Alarm
  3. I Feel It Coming / Save Your Tears
  4. House of Balloons / Blinding Lights

2022 (Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg feat. 50 Cent & Mary J. Blige):

  • One of my favorite shows visually, but I wish it had a more focused lineup. I already gave Eminem a show, and Kendrick Lamar needs m.A.A.d. city and Alright for his own show.
  1. Still D.R.E. (Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg)
  2. Nuthin' But a G Thang / The Next Episode (Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg)
  3. Who Am I? / Gin and Juice (Snoop Dogg with Dr. Dre)
  4. In Da Club (50 Cent solo)
  5. Family Affair / Changes (Mary J. Blige solo)
  6. California Love (Dr. Dre with all)

2023 (Shakira & Bad Bunny feat. Arturo Sandoval):

  • Bad Bunny was randomly a guest at the Shakira/JLo show before even YHLQMDLG dropped, and his entire set comes from after then except for I Like It. Shakira is timed with her early 2023 comeback with the Bzrp song and has fewer of her hits so they get more time to breathe. I borrowed Arturo Sandoval from the Indiana Jones halftime show to do the horn sections on Después de la Playa and I Like It.
  1. Dákiti / Tití Me Preguntó (Bad Bunny solo)
  2. Yo Perreo Sola / Safaera / Después de la Playa (Bad Bunny with Arturo Sandoval)
  3. Ojitos Lindos (Bad Bunny & Shakira)
  4. Hips Don't Lie / Ojos Así (Shakira solo)
  5. She Wolf / Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53 (Shakira solo)
  6. I Like It / La Tortura / Waka Waka (Shakira & Bad Bunny with Arturo Sandoval)

2024 (Miley Cyrus & Dolly Parton feat. Debbie Harry):

  • An obvious duo with their familial connection, I had a version of this show at one point with a Lil Nas X / Billy Ray Cyrus interlude but I think both of those ships have sailed. Debbie Harry makes an appearance during Miley's Plastic Hearts aesthetic medley.
  1. We Can't Stop (Miley Cyrus solo)
  2. Flowers (Miley Cyrus solo)
  3. See You Again / Heart of Glass / Midnight Sky (Miley Cyrus & Debbie Harry)
  4. 9 to 5 / Here You Come Again (Dolly Parton solo)
  5. Jolene / Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus & Dolly Parton)
  6. Islands in the Stream / Party in the USA (Miley Cyrus & Dolly Parton)

2025 (Lady Gaga feat. Ariana Grande):

  • By holding out until this year, Gaga gets to do a show with the benefit of the GP fully appreciating her talent. Starts with a macabre aesthetic before becoming much more colorful during Born This Way, ending in an arena rock finale. Ariana is inessential as a guest but I wanted to put her in here because a) it would make the show even gayer and b) I think she's probably still like 5-10 years away from being able to headline herself.
  1. Paparazzi / Bad Romance / Abracadabra
  2. Poker Face / Just Dance
  3. Born This Way
  4. Break Free / Rain On Me (with Ariana Grande)
  5. Shallow / The Edge of Glory

POTENTIAL FUTURE SHOWS:

  • Kendrick Lamar & SZA feat. Future - I think they got lucky that GNX is such a smash album because without those songs I think Kendrick with a mere SZA assist (rather than double headliner) would feel stretched for hits.
  • Travis Scott - I know he is not liked by the popheadsverse but in terms of visuals, live performances and fanbase he would be able to headline soon.
  • Harry Styles & Stevie Nicks - Slightly weird pairing but Stevie adores Harry and he would be a good stand-in for Lindsey Buckingham.
  • Billie Eilish - A little hard to maneuver around her ballads (like Mariah) but this is inevitable even if she were to stop making hits for some reason (which I doubt).
  • Taylor Swift - Obviously overqualified at this point, just a question on whether she's waiting for rerecords to all be finished or for her general chart success to falter.

CUT FROM REALITY:

  • Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, The Judds - All from the 1994 show, I give them a pass for not being prepared for the caliber of performance that the gig would eventually demand, but even for a country show none of these choices aged well.
  • Teddy Pendergrass - He's listed on Wikipedia as performing at the Indiana Jones show but I just rewatched and did not notice him, nor can I find any photographic evidence of his participation? very odd
  • Queen Latifah - She did a random remix of I Heard It Through the Grapevine at the Motown show, but she's kinda known as a zero hit wonder these days so I cut her.
  • Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - They headlined alongside Stevie Wonder and Gloria Estefan, which is probably the decision from any of these shows that has aged the worst.
  • Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton - All did original songs written by Disney at the 2000 show. Would not be opposed to any of them showing up as guests elsewhere, but no good way to fit them.
  • No Doubt - I originally had them in the Battle of the Bands idea before I realized that came before the Rock Steady era, and I didn't feel like rearranging everyone to accommodate them.
  • P. Diddy, Nelly & Kid Rock - From the 2004 Janet Jackson show, Diddy and Nelly have the discographies for it but not the morals sooo
  • Slash - Guest at the Black Eyed Peas show. Guns 'n Roses would be a reasonable headliner if they ever reunite, but otherwise he's basically just a prop (considering none of the instruments are ever played live).
  • LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., Cee Lo Green - All of the guests at Madonna's show, Nicki is a reasonable co-headliner in a vacuum but has never quite had a moment to justify it.
  • Mark Ronson - Got to bounce around in the background of the Coldplay show because he produced Uptown Funk, needless to say he is not needed unless Late Night Feelings has its deserved moment someday.
  • Maroon 5 and Big Boi - I was tolerant of the idea of a Maroon 5 halftime show before it happened, but yeah. If OutKast ever reunites then they should be a lock for a headliner
  • Jennifer Lopez and J Balvin - I liked JLo's performance and would not have even minded if it was a solo show because she has the hits for it, but I know that is an unpopular opinion. Her catalog is clearly not highly regarded based on her ticket sales. From what I can tell J Balvin is a bit of a flop nowadays so he got lucky he snuck in when he did.
  • Anderson .Paak - He just played the drums for Lose Yourself during Eminem's performance, but obviously he could show up if Bruno had a later show (and tbh based on his career trajectory, not out of the question he gets a second show).
  • H.E.R. - She sang like two words of "Bad Girl" during Usher's show mainly to give him enough time to change into rollerskates, but she is years away from performing any of her own music.

OTHER ARTISTS I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH:

  • Ray Charles
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Brian Wilson / The Beach Boys
  • Johnny Cash
  • David Bowie
  • Eagles
  • Santana
  • Hall & Oates
  • Bon Jovi
  • Sheryl Crow
  • Willie Nelson