The Super Bowl halftime show has become one of the most significant musical events of the year, and the 2022 version for Super Bowl LVI will be no exception. As the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams take the field for Super Bowl 56, who will take the stage for the 2022 halftime show?
Super Bowl halftime show featuring Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem in 2022
There are star-studded shows, and then there is the 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl 56 halftime show. It’s a virtual who’s who in the music industry with a heavy West Coast feel.
Taking the stage as the Rams and Bengals head to the locker room are Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Eminem. Collectively, they have earned 44 Grammys and have created 22 No. 1 Billboard albums across their illustrious careers. In addition, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation serves as the strategic entertainment advisor of the Super Bowl halftime show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. It’s the third year of collaboration between the NFL, Pepsi, and Roc Nation.
“The opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, and to do it in my own backyard, will be one of the biggest thrills of my career,” Dre said in a statement. “I’m grateful to Jay-Z, Roc Nation, the NFL, and Pepsi as well as Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar for joining me in what will be an unforgettable cultural moment.”
Dre, Snoop Dogg, Lamar, Blige, and Eminem join a list of celebrated musicians who have played during Super Bowl halftime shows, including Beyoncé, Madonna, Coldplay, Katy Perry, U2, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Shakira. Last year, The Weeknd performed the halftime show at Raymond James Stadium.
History of the Super Bowl halftime show
The Super Bowl halftime show has become a must-see musical event to many. However, it has not always been this way. The first “halftime show” came in 1967 when The University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band performed during the intermission. They went on to play the classic hits such as “The Sound Of Music,” “William Tell Overture,” and “When The Saints Go Marching In.”
Over the next few decades, marching bands dominated the halftime show, but for several years, the halftime show was used to perform a tribute to a time or an individual. Examples such as the “Tribute to Mardi Gras” for SB IV, “A Tribute To Louie Armstrong” for SB VI, and “200 Years and Just a Baby: A Tribute to America’s Bicentennial,” which was the Super Bowl X halftime show theme for the 1976 edition.
It was not until the 1990s when the Super Bowl halftime show truly took on a life of its own. The seminal moment came in 1993, when Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, took over the Rose Bowl and put on one of the historic Super Bowl concerts of all time. From that point on, the floodgates opened, and stars packed the stage.
We saw everything from The Blues Brothers, more of Janet Jackson than planned, Shania Twain, and arguably the best Super Bowl show ever when Prince lit up Miami in the pouring rain for Super Bowl XLI. Where will this Super Bowl 56’s halftime show fall on the all-time list? Odds are it will live up to the hype.