It’s the Monday after Super Bowl, so naturally everyone at Fish is talking about this year’s champions: Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. No offense to the Patriots or the Jets or whoever was playing in the actual game this year (spoiler alert I’m not a big sports gal), but it’s hard to care about the players on the field when Shakira and JLO take the stage. As a South Florida native, I was proud of how the performance encompassed the Latin culture and undeniable energy of our community (which is my not-so-subtle dig at the choice of having Maroon 5 perform at last year’s Super Bowl in Atlanta; not exactly great representation). In my opinion, Shakira and JLO’s performance should go down as one of the greatest Super Bowl halftime performances of all time. Keep reading to find out what other performances I consider to be in GOAT territory, as well as which I’ve ranked as the WOAT (worst of all time) category.
Best
- Prince, 2007. His performance of Purple Rain in the middle of downpour will give you chills no matter how many times you’ve watched it. View it here.
- Britney Spears, Aerosmith & *NSYNC, 2001. Britney and Justin performing together gave 11-year-old-me an adrenaline rush that frankly hasn’t been topped since. View it here.
- The Rolling Stones, 2006. The iconic stage they performed on was the largest halftime stage ever assembled, composed of 28 pieces and assembled in just 5 minutes. View it here.
- Beyonce, 2003. Sometimes I think the word ‘epic’ is overused to describe Beyonce, then I remember this performance exists and I shut up. View it here.
- Paul McCartney, 2005. He’s an icon for a reason. View it here.
Honorable Mention: Lady Gaga, 2017. With all of her stunts and shenanigans (e.g. that meat dress episode), it’s easy to forget that behind her somewhat desperate attempts to stay relevant, Lady Gaga is an insanely talented performer. She reminded us of that in 2017. View it here.
Worst
- Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, 2004. Janet’s career was essentially destroyed over this ‘wardrobe malfunction,’ which is the same reason I’m not linking the performance here to our company blog. This show also involved Kid Rock who we now know to be a total bonehead, so it’s just bad all around.
- Katy Perry, 2015. Sorry, I just wasn’t a fan of the dancing sharks. View it here.
- Maroon 5, 2019. Having a group of the most generic white dudes perform at a Super Bowl taking place in Atlanta was kind of an insult. Yes there was an appearance from Big Boi but with all of the talent that hails from Atlanta, they could have done better. View it here.
- Justin Timberlake, 2018. Controversial opinion, but as I’ve grown more ‘woke’ with age, I’ve also increasingly caught on to Justin Timberlake having a tendency to exploit women for his professional gain (Exhibit A: the Cry Me A River music video. Exhibit B: blaming Janet Jackson for him exposing her breast). I just wasn’t all that here for him taking the Super Bowl stage again while Janet Jackson is still in professional exile. The *NSYNC cameo was a nice touch though #JusticeForJC. View it here.
- Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton and Tina Turner, 2000. As we all know, anything Christina can do, Britney can do better, immediately evidenced in 2001 with the aforementioned Britney/Aerosmith Super Bowl collab. Sorry Christina, you may have the voice but Britney has the star power. View it here.
