Awful Announcing has learned that Maroon 5 will very likely be the halftime act for Super Bowl 50, but is not final at this point. That corroborates a report from E! News that the band was in “extensive” talks for the gig.
Maroon 5 already has some experience providing musical accompaniment for football, having performed the opening for ABC’s Saturday night college football telecasts last season.
https://youtu.be/pHET2_f66zM
There had been rumors that the NFL wanted Bruno Mars for the halftime gig again, after he performed at Super Bowl XLVIII. (Or 48, since the NFL has done away with using Roman numbers for this season’s championship.) Billboard reported in early September that Mars was asked to perform and “curate” halftime entertainment for the show. E! News also mentioned that Coldplay was a possibility for the spot. But for whatever reason, it now appears that Maroon 5 has leapfrogged Mars as the favorite for the spot.
Mars being asked to curate performers for the halftime spectacle certainly seems to imply that whomever the headliner is won’t be the only performer. Katy Perry was joined by Missy Elliott, Lenny Kravitz and, of course, land sharks during the Super Bowl 49 (XLIX) performance. Prior to that, the Red Hot Chili Peppers provided additional entertainment with Mars.
Super Bowl 50 will be played Feb. 7, 2016 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., home of the San Francisco 49ers. The game will be televised on CBS.
[E! News]
