Member Since: 3/18/2008
Posts: 40,057
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Rolling Stone Names Madonna's SB Show The All-Time Greatest
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1. Madonna
Madonna had a very ambitious tour plan for 2012, and the single best way to promote it was a Super Bowl halftime show. She went all out for the performance, bringing in Cee Lo Green, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. and even acrobats. The set was wall-to-wall hits with her pretty flaccid new single "Give Me All Your Luvin'" in the middle. M.I.A. tried to perk up the song by sticking her middle finger up on camera, which didn't exactly thrill Madonna or the NFL – though next to Nipplegate, it was a pretty tiny scandal. The next day, tickets went on sale for her world tour and sold out everywhere.
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2. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Bruce Springsteen's former manager, Mike Appel, tried to book him at the Super Bowl back in 1973. The NFL went in a slightly different direction that year by booking Andy Williams and the University of Michigan Marching Band. About two decades later, it was the NFL who was chasing Springsteen, but the singer declined numerous times.
By 2009, however, the Boss had toured so heavily over the last few years that some markets were soft. He also had a new album to promote, so he finally folded and agreed. The band rehearsed for days and days at New York's Terminal 5, making sure they had the show down to the second. The band's late saxophonist Clarence Clemons was recovering from knee surgery and in incredible pain; it was unclear if he would even be able to stand onstage but, when the cameras began rolling, he managed to not only stand but even take his first steps since the operation. They opened with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and then went into a shortened "Born to Run" and the title track from Working on a Dream. They wrapped up with "Glory Days," though the next day, all anyone was talking about was Springsteen's crotch slide into the camera.
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3. U2
The 2002 Super Bowl was just four months after 9/11, so a wild show like the Aerosmith/N'Sync/Britney Spears/Nelly cluster**** of the previous year just wasn't an option. The NFL wisely brought in U2. They were midway through their Elevation comeback tour, and Bono always knows how to balance spectacle with a sense of higher meaning. They opened with "Beautiful Day" and then played the mournful "MLK" while the names of the 9/11 victims ran on a screen. They wrapped up with a triumphant "Where the Streets Have No Name." It was classy and deeply moving.
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Yaaaaass