Caroline Bryant
Editor-in-Chief
I am not the biggest football fan. Never have been. But, I love the Super Bowl. It’s the perfect time to gather with friends, have an excuse to eat too many chips and salsa, and, of course, see if you’ll witness yet another legendary halftime performance. Living through many, I have clear performance favorites.
Though I have lived through two decades of Super Bowls, my rankings will begin in the 2010s. Here are my top five Super Bowl Halftime performances of all time:
5) 2013 – Beyoncé & Destiny’s Child
I will admit, I was unimpressed at the beginning. Despite my soft spot for the opening song, “Love on Top,” all I could notice was her lack of singing. All I saw was her focusing on the dance moves as the back-track echoed in the ears.
The further she got into the show, the more she sang. And boy, were her vocals good. Harmonizing with her claim to fame, Destiny’s Child, to iconic classics glued the performance, wrapping it up with “Halo”– one that made 10-year-old me reminisce about the TeenNick HALO Awards.
There were only a few hours that I– and a majority of Baltimoreans –hated Beyoncé’s halftime performance, and that was during the power outage conspiracy. Fans flocked to Twitter to blame the queen’s performance and sore-losing 49ers fans for the third quarter blackout. Though the conspiracy wasn’t refuted by media outlets until the next day, a Ravens win was enough to change our minds.
4) 2023 – Rhianna
Rhianna’s performance was filled with iconic moments; her backup dancers in little marshmallow puffers crawling during “Work,” her Fenty Beauty product placement, the stadium twinkling with flashlights during “Diamonds.”
What lost me at the time was the lack of energy from Rhianna. While she was pregnant– and she technically announced her pregnancy at the Super Bowl– there wasn’t verbal confirmation. I remember many taking to TikTok the next day posting about people being rude for saying she was pregnant, so I didn’t want to touch the subject with a 10-foot pole.
Yet, after a rewatch two-years later, I admit that Rhianna’s slow movement was accounted for by the choreographer and production team. The production team did a nice job filming close-ups on the background dancers, filling the screen with movement. Listening to her iconic hits again was another perk.
3) 2025 – Kendrick Lamar
As someone who hates Travis Kelce and only says “Go Birds” when that bird is a Raven or an Oriole, I only tuned-in to this Super Bowl for Kendrick Lamar. I’m glad I did.
I stood up and applauded after the phrase “[The] revolution about to be televised, you picked the right time for the wrong guy,” left Lamar’s mouth. He meant everything he said. The symbolism. The lyricism. Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam. It was every AP Literature teacher’s dream performance and I would go back to the 12th grade to sit-in during that lesson. The message he wanted truly came to life.
Why rank his performance as No. 3? Too much competition between nostalgic icons. At least he was also in the next one.
2) 2022 – Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige & Kendrick Lamar
There were so many elements of this halftime show that I can rave about. For one, whoever made the visuals for the opening of the show deserves a pay raise because they were outstanding, smooth and so on-brand for Dr. Dre. Then, as he rose out of the ground into a 90s-esq California rancher, we saw Snoop Dogg appear to start “The Next Episode.”
Also, what a stacked list of headliners. 50 Cent, Mary J Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and special guest Anderson .Paak devoured. 50 Cent hanging upside down? Iconic. Mary J. Blige in her silver leopard print boots? Iconic. Eminem? It’s Eminem.
Was there a grand finale all together a bit lackluster? Yeah. But they’re older so I’ll let it slide.
My favorite headliner of the show, though, was Snoop Dogg. Him unshamelessly wearing the Los Angeles Rams’ colors with a smirk on his face had me dying.
1) 2017- Lady Gaga
I had never seen this performance until this week and it was life changing. My jaw was on the floor the entire time. I would’ve never guessed she started the show standing on top of the stadium singing a mix of patriotic melodies just to bungee jump hundreds of feet down onto the stage. The flips and twists on her way down were not only comedic, but was so Lady Gaga.
I felt every emotion I could during this show. From crying during “Million Reasons,” to dancing to “Telephone,” every song’s atmosphere was perfectly curated by the lighting, costuming and choreography. She was also the first person I noticed to use crowd choreography, using LEDs to continue her story off the stage and onto the field.
Out of all the performances on this list, her encore was the best. After performing “Bad Romance” to a storm of fireworks, she finished with an aggressive mic drop and jumped into the crowd. Wow. If I had one wish, I would want to travel back eight years and experience that in person.
