Super Bowl halftime shows ranked

Superstars playing the Super Bowl is a relatively recent phenomenon. During the game’s first quarter century, the NFL was loathe to offend the public at large, so instead of pop phenomena, they’d anchor the halftime show with dance troupes and marching bands—or, in the case of a truly bizarre program from 1989, a magical Elvis Presley impersonator called Elvis Presto. Things started to change in 1993, when Michael Jackson headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show at the Rose Bowl. Sure, New Kids on the Block appeared at halftime during in 1991, but Michael Jackson treated the game as an afterthought: he put a concert into the confines of the Super Bowl.

It took a while for the NFL to loosen up enough to let other artists follow Jackson’s lead. For the next 10 years, they made halting progress until there was a sea change in the early 2000s, a change that started with Aerosmith and NYSNC sharing the stage in 2001 and solidified with U2 commanding the stadium in 2002. From that point forward, it’s been nothing but superstars headlining the Halftime Show, a tradition that continued with Usher’s performance during Super Bowl LVIII. Here, we look back at the highlights—as well as a few debacles—from the last three decades.

32. Indiana Jones And The Temple Of The Forbidden Eye (1995)

Tangible proof of the lameness of the Super Bowl Halftime Show in the 20th Century, 1995’s Indiana Jones And The Temple Of The Forbidden Eye has it all: cheesy choreography, tacky costumes, and incongruous musical acts, all in service of promoting a theme park ride. Patti LaBelle gamely attempts to anchor this mess, giving it her all as dancers pantomime Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood around her; she seems more comfortable than Tony Bennett, who sings “Caravan” as if he’s embarrassed to be there. It all ends with the two singers duetting on The Lion King’s “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” by which time you could be forgiven if you thought you hallucinated the whole thing.