The Super Bowl is the epitome of American sports, with chips and dips, jerseys, and commercials galore. I’ve watched the Super Bowl ever since I learned how to watch television — which was pretty early on in my life. I’ve seen various teams go head-to-head to compete for the championship of the year, marking their place as the ultimate powerhouse in the world of American football.
While I’m somewhat of a football fan and understand a few rules of the game, there’s one thing that is arguably the best part of the Super Bowl (and I’m not talking about Dora the Explorer explaining what “holding” is). I’m talking about the beloved halftime show.
Every year, a musical artist is announced as the headliner for the Super Bowl halftime show, leaving many suspecting what their set list will be and what special guests they are going to bring. This year, the Super Bowl halftime performer was Usher, and he brought us all back to the 2000s with his banger-after-banger production.
There’s an important question to ask, though: Was Usher’s performance the best of them all? This list dives into my personal rankings of the best Super Bowl halftime shows of the past decade and why they deserve to be there.
- katy perry (2015)
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There’s not much you can do to beat Katy Perry riding a giant golden lion to start a Super Bowl halftime show. This show had insane production, from having the floor look like it was warping to giant fires spitting from the floor while Lenny Kravitz sings “I Kissed A Girl.” I loved how Kravitz rock-ified Perry’s song, absolutely changing the tone of the show and intriguing the audience.
Also, can I just say how impressive her costume changes were? Especially her “California Gurls” sequence where she completely recreated the song’s music video to a T. And don’t get me started on Missy Elliot’s guest performance… who doesn’t love Missy Elliot?
- usher (2024)
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While this performance didn’t have a ton of production in comparison to Perry’s, it made you want to dance! The most important part of a Super Bowl halftime performance, to me, is engaging with the audience, and Usher did just that. On top of that, his beautiful, angelic vocals made it hard for your eyes to not stay glued to the screen.
This performance had the best-of-the-best hit songs, making it arguably the most impressive set list on this ranking. For some reason, I’m just absolutely blown away by his swinging microphone! What genius thought of that?
There’s one last thing that truly marks Usher’s performance at second place: the feature of “Turn Down for What.”
- The weeknd (2021)
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This one may be a bit controversial, as many people didn’t love this performance. Personally, when I first watched it, I wasn’t blown away. But now looking back at it, it is such a cool production — especially considering that it happened during COVID-19.
The unique thing about this performance is the camera work. Going into a tunnel of lights and placing the camera to seem as if it was on a selfie stick was so creative and truly made the performance one-of-a-kind. The memes were top-tier. Also, The Weeknd always sounds, shockingly, exactly the same as in his album. He’s entirely too talented.
- lady gaga (2017)
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The simple fact that Lady Gaga was mid-air for a good chunk of her performance should be enough to place her this high on the ranking, but she really did blow away the audience. Like The Weeknd’s tunnel memes, the memes of Gaga jumping out of the sky were hilarious.
Similar to Usher, she performed banger after banger, making her set list one of the best. I grew up listening to Lady Gaga so this performance took me right back to my childhood. She also had an amazing production that blew the competition out of the water.
- jennifer lopez and shakira (2020)
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With bright lights and various costume changes, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s performance was one of the most fun to watch yet. There were some amazing vocals from Shakira, as always. She had a spectacular segment that just made you want to dance! J. Lo’s was also filled with great songs and exciting dances. The two had a set list that every single person knew the words to — an extremely hard task to complete.
Honestly, both women could have had their own Super Bowl performance and each would have been fantastic. My only complaint was the children’s performance at the end; it definitely slowed down the upbeat mood from the previous songs.
- rihanna (2023)
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Firstly, can I say how iconic it is to announce your pregnancy during a Super Bowl halftime show?! That already locks her into one of the top rankings for any Super Bowl halftime performance ever.
Her set list was one of the best out there, too! It was a great choice to start with “B*tch Better Have My Money,” drawing the audience into the rest of her performance. The floating platforms were honestly so cool but made me a little nervous that someone would fall off. I also loved the camera work aspects that reminded me of The Weeknd’s performance — amazing.
The only complaint I have was that there was a lack of scenery change or costume changes. I think one of the things that marks a Super Bowl performance as legendary is its variety. Unfortunately, Rihanna didn’t have that much compared to her counterparts.
- coldplay (2016)
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This halftime show was always one of my favorites growing up simply because of how much I love Coldplay. But I wish there was some more oomph there. Coldplay’s performance gave the audience chills due to the songs, but not the movement of the performance. They had some cool graphics with umbrella-looking things, but it wasn’t everything like other shows.
One of the best parts, though, was Beyoncé and Bruno Mars’ section, which practically stole the show right out of Coldplay’s hands. I think there’s also something to say about the fact that this was the only performance on the list that took place while the sun was still up which, in my opinion, hindered the effectiveness of the performance as they couldn’t do much with lights or graphics.
- dr. dre, snoop dogg, mary j. blige, eminem, and kendrick lamar (2022)
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This performance was filled to the brim with classic hits from a variety of legendary artists. Each of the songs was perfect for their performance (which took place on the West Coast), throwing it back to everyone’s favorite songs.
The only issue I find is that it was great for TV, but probably extremely boring for those to watch at the actual Super Bowl. Almost the entire performance took place in a house, which you couldn’t see through from the back. A vital part of a Super Bowl halftime performance is the movement, and this performance didn’t have much at all.
- justin timberlake (2018)
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Firstly, I want to say that I absolutely love Justin Timberlake’s songs. I honestly wish his set list had more of his old JT bops rather than some of his new stuff (just because of how iconic they are).
I didn’t love how the audience at the Super Bowl couldn’t really see him for the start of the performance, as he started in what seemed like a locker room. It definitely took me a little off guard seeing what looked like a small concert at the start of the show.
I did love the Prince projection that they had. I never realized how well JT and Prince’s voices pair together — it was truly beautiful. I wish he would have added another performer to pick up the tempo a bit, though.
- maroon 5 (2019)
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One thing I found so awesome about Maroon 5’s performance was the giant M-shaped stage. I bet it looked so cool from the audience at the show! The show was also great and filled with so many songs that everyone could dance to.
However, this show, in comparison to the others on the list, didn’t really match up. Maroon 5’s performance felt more like a cool concert than a Super Bowl halftime show. I just wish there would have been a bit more there.
Overall, the past decade of Super Bowl halftime shows has been an absolute blast to watch. It’s my favorite part of the (pretty much) American holiday and will continue to be for years to come. I can’t wait to see what artists have in store for future Super Bowls!
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