№ 08 · PERFORMANCE
The Halftime Show, Reinvented
Super Bowl XXVII, Rose Bowl, January 31, 1993
MICHAEL JACKSON
The King of Pop
★ LEGENDARY
← MICHAEL JACKSON
CARD N° 08 · PERFORMANCE · ★ LEGENDARY
The Halftime Show, Reinvented
Super Bowl XXVII, Rose Bowl, January 31, 1993
№ 08 PERFORMANCE
The Halftime Show, Reinvented
Before Michael, Super Bowl halftime was marching bands and Up With People. The NFL was watching live TV viewership drop sharply during the break. So they offered him the slot, with one catch: no fee. He'd be paid in airtime for a UNICEF charity message. He said yes.
▶ THE MOMENT
Michael Jackson — Super Bowl XXVII Halftime Show (1993)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnZWqVgIJVk
MICHAEL JACKSON · B·SIDE · VOL.I
HOVER TO FLIP
THE FACT
Before Michael, Super Bowl halftime was marching bands and Up With People. The NFL was watching live TV viewership drop sharply during the break. So they offered him the slot, with one catch: no fee. He'd be paid in airtime for a UNICEF charity message. He said yes.
WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW
The 1993 Super Bowl halftime show is the single performance most credited with creating the modern halftime spectacle — every Beyoncé, Prince, Madonna and Rihanna show that followed traces its DNA to this thirteen minutes. Michael walked onto the stage, stood completely motionless for one minute and thirty-five seconds while the crowd of 98,000 lost its mind, then exploded into Jam, Billie Jean, Black or White, We Are the World and Heal the World. It was the first Super Bowl halftime where the TV audience actually grew during the break instead of shrinking. Within two years the NFL had restructured halftime to lock in A-list headliners. Michael accepted no performance fee and used the platform to launch his Heal the World Foundation. The next year, the halftime sponsorship was sold for $4 million. The year after that, $14 million.
▶
THE MOMENT
Michael Jackson — Super Bowl XXVII Halftime Show (1993) — The opening freeze — 95 seconds of complete stillness.