6 Rocking Super Bowl Halftime Shows

Today Super Bowl LII will be played at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis pitting the New England Patriots against the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFL title. The big game’s traditional halftime show will be performed this year by Justin Timberlake, who returns to the Super Bowl stage following his notorious “wardrobe malfunction” incident with Janet Jackson in 2004. For this week’s Super Bowl Sunday Cinema installment, here’s a look back at a string of six straight years of rocking halftime performances.

After the Timberlake/Jackson controversy, Super Bowls played between 2005 and 2010 featured many icons of rock ‘n’ roll. Paul McCartney delivered several The Beatles hits and more at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida in 2005. The following year fellow legendary British rockers The Rolling Stones invaded Ford Field in Detroit and in 2007 the late great Prince gave a (purple) rain-soaked performance at (what’s now known as) Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were enlisted for the 2008 Super Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band rocked Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium in 2009. The streak of rock-centric halftime shows also featured The Who’s appearance at Hard Rock Stadium in 2010.

Video highlights of each of the six halftime shows between 2005 and 2010 can be viewed below:

Paul McCartney 2005

The Rolling Stones 2006

Prince 2007

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 2008

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 2009

The Who 2010

[Originally published February 5, 2017]