Stephen A. Smith ranks top five favorite Super Bowl halftime shows

After an excellent Super Bowl halftime show featuring several legends of hip-hop, ESPN’s Stephen A Smith gave his updated list of all-time halftime shows. The popular and frequently outspoken analyst has been public about his favorite performances during the big game, and this year’s offering certainly left an impression on his personal list.

Stephen A Smith’s top-five halftime shows

“Loved the Halftime show, by the way,” claimed Smith on Sunday’s performance. “May have moved into my top-5, along with Michael Jackson. Beyoncé — with and without Bruno Mars — and Bruno Mars by himself.”

The halftime show for Super Bowl 56 thrilled fans of hip-hop, featuring huge names from the genre and a celebration of “West Coast” rap. The performance featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem as the show was heavily promoted leading up to the day. In addition, rappers 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak were both part of the performance, leading to a fantastic celebration of California music in front of the Los Angeles crowd.

Smith was among those celebrating the star-studded performance, and admitted it had cracked the top-five of his all-time list. Also on his list was a heavy dose of the artists Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, as the pair have performed twice at the Super Bowl within the past decade. Beyoncé headlined Super Bowl 47, in a performance that saw her reunite with her former group Destiny’s Child on stage.

The following year at Super Bowl 48, Bruno Mars headlined a show that featured the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers. Bruno Mars received praise around the entertainment world for his performance, and would return for another show at Super Bowl 50 alongside Beyoncé and the headline band Coldplay.

All three of their performances may be relatively recent, but they stand out as excellent performances on the Super Bowl stage. Part of the reason for Smith’s choices being mostly limited to the decade is because the Super Bowl tradition of having superstar halftime shows is a fairly recent one. Before 1991, the halftime was largely a showcase of marching bands and smaller acts.

Smith’s final pick for top-five was arguably the biggest performance in the show’s history, or at least the one that showed the NFL that there was something to be found in having superstars run the halftime show. Legendary pop star Michael Jackson performed at Super Bowl 27 in 1993, in a show that many claim as their favorite halftime performance ever. Michael Jackson’s performance remains one of the most watched events in American television history with 133.4 million viewers.