Written By: Maggie Brown (maggiethe_journalist)
As we’re all still floating on the high of Usher’s Super Bowl Halftime show on Sunday, it serves as a reminder of all the talented black artist who paved the way and gave us iconic performances in past years.
Since its inception in 1967 with Super Bowl 1 in Los Angeles with the HBCU band, the National Football League (NFL) has carefully selected and curated many performances that have shocked the viewers and left everyone wanting more. From Whitney Houston singing her own rendition of the National Anthem to Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, or even Rihanna announcing her surprise pregnancy, Super Bowl Half time shows have giving us everything we need and more.
While many have come before those previously mentioned, we all must admit that icons like Micheal Jackson and Prince have certainly paved an even shorter route for celebrities across many genres to be able to even have the chance to grace such a stage.
If you haven’t heard or seen a clip of MJ’s 1993 Half Time show before, it was undoubtedly one of the most groundbreaking performances in the Super Bowl’s decades long history. MJ captivated an audience of over 133 million viewers as he sang hits like “Billie Jean”, and “Black or White” – making that one of the most watched Half Time shows and simultaneously paving the path for generations to come.
As fore-mentioned, Prince’s 2007 Super Bowl Half Time performance was another artistical and jaw-dropping performance that superseded the viewer’s expectations and left them completely stunned. In true Prince fashion, the singer didn’t let the gloomy forecast dampen his mood as it began to rain just before his set. Prince used that to his advantage and performed his hit ” Purple Rain”, – and yes, there was actual purple rain for visual effects.
Without artist like MJ and Prince, we wouldn’t have been able to witness the 2022 mind-blowing performance from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, plus Kendrick Lamar on the Super Bowl stage – which turned out to be dubbed one of the blackest performances to date.
While the list of outstanding performances by these artists and more could go on, it is always important to remember how it all started. The fact that the Super bowl is always during Black History Month, and we have exceptional black artist crushing the stage year after year, is truly something amazing.
