Super Bowl 2021 halftime show primer: The Weeknd is set to join star-studded list of all-time performers

Super Bowl LV will once again feature the Kansas City Chiefs, but this time they’ll be up against a familiar face in a familiar place (the teams met in Tampa earlier this season) with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To celebrate the matchup after two quarters, in the Super Bowl halftime show, The Weeknd will be performing. Super Bowl halftime show artists are exposed to an audience that is exponentially bigger than any they’ve ever encountered in their careers. The duo of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira had about 103 million viewers last year in Miami.

So, what were the shows like before they were must-see television? Do you remember that killer halftime show featuring the Rockettes, Chubby Checker and the 88 grand pianos in 1988? Do you remember the captivating “Be Bop Bamboozled” at the Orange Bowl in 1989? No, no you do not. Ditto Carol Channing (twice) or any one of those four contrived Up With People performances in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Super Bowl LV is almost here, and you can watch it for free on the CBS Sports App.

The Super Bowl halftime show, before Michael Jackson, was an endless stream of college marching bands and flag-spinning tributes, from salutes to Hollywood (twice), to Motown, to the Big Band Era, to the Caribbean, to Duke Ellington. We also got the New Kids on the Block (1991) not singing any of their biggest hits and Gloria Estefan (1992) providing the soundtrack for Olympic figure skaters Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano of “What would Brian Boitano do?” fame, because nothing says a Minnesota Super Bowl like the lead singer of the Miami Sound Machine.

Then we got the King of Pop at the Rose Bowl in 1993 — and the Super Bowl halftime show was never the same again.

Here is the complete list of previous Super Bowl halftime performers and themes:

2021: The Weeknd

2020: Jennifer Lopez and Shakira

2019: Maroon 5, Travis Scott, Big Boi

2018: Justin Timberlake, The Tennessee Kids, University of Minnesota Marching Band

2017: Lady Gaga

2016: Coldplay, Beyonce, Bruno Mars

2015: Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott

2014: Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers

2013: Beyonce

2012: Madonna

2011: The Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Slash

2010: The Who

2009: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

2008: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

2007: Prince and the Florida A&M marching band

2006: The Rolling Stones

2005: Paul McCartney

2004: Janet Jackson, Kid Rock, P. Diddy, Nelly and Justin Timberlake

2003: Shania Twain, No Doubt and Sting

2002: U2

2001: “The Kings of Rock and Pop” featuring Aerosmith, ‘N’Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly

2000: “A Tapestry of Nations” featuring Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton and an 80-person choir

1999: “Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing” featuring Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and tap dancer Savion Glover

1998: “A Tribute to Motown’s 40th Anniversary” including Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson, Queen Latifah, Martha Reeves and The Temptations

1997: “Blues Brothers Bash” featuring Dan Akroyd, John Goodman and James Belushi (also featuring “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown and ZZ Top)

1996: Diana Ross celebrating 30 years of the Super Bowl with special effects, pyrotechnics and stadium card stunt. Finale featured Diana Ross being taken from the stadium in a helicopter

1995: “Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye” featuring Tony Bennett, Patti LaBelle, Arturo Sandoval, the Miami Sound Machine and stunts including fire and skydivers. Finale included audience participation with light sticks

1994: “Rockin’ Country Sunday” featuring Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, Wynonna & Naomi Judd. Finale included flashlight stunt

1993: “Heal the World” featuring Michael Jackson and 3,500 local children. Finale included audience card stunt.

1992: “Winter Magic” including a salute to the winter season and the winter Olympics featuring Gloria Estefan, Brian Boitano and Dorothy Hamill

1991: “A Small World Salute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl” featuring New Kids on the Block

1990: “Salute to New Orleans” and 40th Anniversary of Peanuts’ characters, featuring trumpeter Pete Fountain, Doug Kershaw & Irma Thomas

1989: “Be Bop Bamboozled” featuring 3-D effects

1988: “Something Grand” featuring 88 grand pianos, the Rockettes and Chubby Checker

1987: “Salute to Hollywood’s 100th Anniversary”

1986: “Beat of the Future”

1985: “A World of Children’s Dreams”

1984: “Super Bowl XVIII’s Salute to the Superstars of the Silver Screen”

1983: “KaleidoSUPERscope” (a kaleidoscope of color and sound)

1982: “A Salute to the 60s and Motown”

1981: “A Mardi Gras Festival”

1980: “A Salute to the Big Band Era” with Up with People

1979: “Super Bowl XIII Carnival” Salute to the Caribbean with Ken Hamilton and various Caribbean bands

1978: “From Paris to the Paris of America” with Tyler Apache Belles, Pete Fountain and Al Hirt

1977: “It’s a Small World” including crowd participation for first time with spectators waving colored placards on cue

1976: “200 Years and Just a Baby” Tribute to America’s Bicentennial

1975: “Tribute to Duke Ellington” with Mercer Ellington and Grambling State band

1974: “A Musical America” with University of Texas band

1973: “Happiness Is.” with University of Michigan marching band and Woody Herman

1972: “Salute to Louis Armstrong” with Ella Fitzgerald, Carol Channing, Al Hirt and U.S. Marine Corps Drill Team

1971: Florida A&M band

1970: Carol Channing

1969: “America Thanks” with Florida A&M University band

1968: Grambling State band

1967: University of Arizona and Grambling State marching bands