Rumors about who will headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show are heating up as the NFL preseason gets underway. If the oddsmakers at Kalshi are correct, rock bands probably need not apply.
Of course, betting lines are constantly changing. But as of mid-day, Kalshi was giving Jay-Z the best headlining odds at the big game in Santa Clara, California, with 28%. Post Malone followed at 25%, with Miley Cyrus at 23%. Metallica just crept into the Top 5 with odds of 13%, while Foo Fighters were a distant No. 20 with odds at only 4%. No other rock act appeared.
It wasn’t always this way.
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Paul McCartney kicked off an impressive run of classic rock headliners at 2005’s Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville. The Rolling Stones then played Super Bowl XL in 2006 at Detroit, followed by Tom Petty at 2008’s Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona, and Bruce Springsteen at Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 at Tampa.
When Was the Last Classic Rock Super Bowl Halftime Show?
Other featured rock acts over the years have included U2 at 2002’s Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans, Aerosmith at 2001’s Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa, Phil Collins at 2000’s Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, and ZZ Top and the Blues Brothers at 1997’s Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans. Prince also served as headliner at Super Bowl XLI in 2007 at Miami, where he played one of the game’s most-celebrated halftime shows.
But no classic rock band has been a top-line performer since the Who’s turn in 2010’s Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. Coldplay is the most recent rock-ish band headliner, from 2016’s Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara. Instead, the show has shifted toward R&B, hip-hop and pop music. There hasn’t even been a featured country act for more than 30 years.
Rock Stars Flipping You Off
There’s at least one final vestige of rock’s provocative spirit that remains: flipping somebody off.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
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