Take a Break With This Super Bowl Halftime Show Quiz

Why would an Elvis impersonator go by “Elvis Presto”? Well, because he was also a magician who did card tricks. During the Super Bowl XXIII halftime show, Elvis Presto displayed four giant cards across the field, and fans were asked to cheer for one of the cards. The man who played Presto got the job three days before the show, when the original impersonator quit to do a commercial for Lee Jeans.

The very first Super Bowl in 1967 took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium and featured marching bands from the University of Arizona and Grambling State University, trumpeter Al Hirt, and two guys in actual jet packs. The two pilots flew around the field, then landed and shook hands at the 50-yard line. The 1985 Super Bowl featured another jet-pack pilot as part of the pregame show.

At Super Bowl IV at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Carol Channing became the first celebrity performer at the big game. She closed the 1970 halftime show by singing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” “It felt a little like an afterthought,” the actress said. “I recall we went over the song a few times, and they threw me to the crowd.”

In one of the biggest stunts in Super Bowl halftime history, Coca-Cola mailed 26 million pairs of 3D glasses to fans across the country for the 1989 halftime show. The performance utilized a new 3D technology called Nuoptix, but announcer Bob Costas was unimpressed. The newscaster introduced the show by sarcastically saying, “This is the single proudest moment of my life.”

The 1970 Super Bowl halftime show featured a reenactment of 1815’s Battle of New Orleans. An actor portraying Andrew Jackson rode around the field on a white horse while reenactors shot muskets and cannons. The smoke from the explosions was so strong that it obscured the view for the fans at the beginning of the second half of the game.

The Super Bowl XXXI halftime show featured music legends James Brown and ZZ Top and the fictional band the Blues Brothers. Compromised of John Goodman, Dan Aykroyd, and Jim Belushi (the brother of original Blues Brother John Belushi), the group performed “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” and “Soul Man” to kick things off, and ended with “Gimme Some Lovin’.”

At the 1987 Super Bowl in Pasadena, California, comedian George Burns kicked off the halftime show with a pre-taped introduction. The cameras then cut to a live shot of the University of Southern California and Grambling State University marching bands, with then-66-year-old actor Mickey Rooney dressed up in a red and white bandleader’s uniform.

Shania Twain opened the 2003 Super Bowl halftime show by performing “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and “Up,” before No Doubt took the stage to perform “Just a Girl.” Sting closed the performance with No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani joining him on his hit “Message in a Bottle.” As of 2023, Twain is the last country music artist to perform at halftime.

Before the musical portion of the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, there was a 90-second sketch produced by MTV and directed by McG. Ben Stiller played a halftime coordinator, Adam Sandler played choreographer and DJ Stanley Steamer, and Chris Rock played a guy who wanted to hear hip-hop during the show.

Up With People is a nonprofit organization founded in 1968, and they hold the record with four Super Bowl halftime performances. Their first halftime show was in 1976, titled “200 Years and Just a Baby: Tribute to America’s Bicentennial.” Up With People also produced the halftime shows in 1980, 1982, and 1986.

The 2001 halftime show was produced by MTV, and featured Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Aerosmith, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly, with all performers coming together during Aerosmith’s hit “Walk This Way.” Performed at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, this show was the first time fans were allowed on the field for the halftime performance.

Not only did Prince dramatically play through the pouring rain in Miami during the Super Bowl XLI halftime show, but the song that he played during the peak of the downpour was, of course, “Purple Rain.” Prince played several of his songs, as well as covers of hits by Creedence Clearwater Revival (“Proud Mary”), Foo Fighters (“Best of You”), Queen (“We Will Rock You”), and Bob Dylan (“All Along the Watchtower”).

At the 1993 Super Bowl, Michael Jackson kicked off his halftime performance by standing in silence for nearly two minutes before launching into a medley of hits, including “Jam,” “Billie Jean,” “Black or White,” “We Are the World,” and lastly, “Heal the World.” The finale memorably featured the audience around the stadium holding up colored cards to create images of children from around the world.

After the controversy surrounding the 2004 “wardrobe malfunction,” the Super Bowl went old school for 2005, bringing in Paul McCartney. The Beatle performed “Drive My Car,” “Get Back,” “Live and Let Die,” and closed with “Hey Jude.” McCartney played both guitar and piano during his performance at Super Bowl XXXIX, where the Patriots defeated the Eagles.

Though it was only actually on air for about one second, the stunt that Justin Timberlake called a “wardrobe malfunction” had a huge ripple effect on both his and Janet Jackson’s careers. During their performance of Timberlake’s song “Rock Your Body,” the former boy bander ripped off a piece of Jackson’s corset and exposed her nipple to the audience of 140 million people. The FCC received more than 500,000 complaints, and CBS was fined $550,000.