Beyonce’s spectacular halftime performance during the US National Football League (NFL) Christmas Day game, seen around the world thanks to a Netflix livestream, was a shot in the arm for a sport that does not enjoy huge appeal outside North America.
The 12-minute showcase, from Beyonce’s entry perched on a white horse to the cast of dancers and musicians, was choreographed to resonate with the cowboy culture of her hometown of Houston, Texas.
This was the first time Beyonce was performing songs from her multiple Grammy-nominated album, Cowboy Carter, before a live audience at the game between the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens.
Her set contained 16 Carriages, Blackbird, Ya Ya, My House, Riiverdance/Spaghetti medley, Sweet Honey Buckin (featuring Shaboozey), Levi’s Jeans (with fellow Texan Post Malone), Jolene, and the triumphant Texas Hold ‘Em with her daughter Blue Ivy as a featured dancer.
According to Netflix, the “Beyonce Bowl” was the peak of viewership during the NFL game with an audience of 27 million people in the US alone. The performance was such a hit that it is now available to stream as a standalone on the platform.
“Beyonce Bowl” joins the epic moments in history when music and sport have combined to create a major cultural impact.
Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, US on February 3, 2013.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Zaire 74 Festival
Kinshasa, Zaire (DRC)
There is no doubt about the greatest heavyweight boxing fight of all time: Mohammed Ali and George Foreman’s Rumble in The Jungle in the former Zaire in 1974. The sheer scale of the music that accompanied the event during the Zaire ‘74 Festival is also widely acknowledged.
The festival was the brainchild of legendary South African musician Hugh Masekela and US promoter Stewart Levine, who convinced boxing promoter Don King to combine the two events.
Alas, the fight was delayed by six weeks after Foreman sustained an injury, but the festival, went ahead on September 22-24, 1974, before frenzied crowds in Kinshasa.
Thousands danced as America’s soul heavyweights, James Brown, Bill Withers, The Spinners, BB King, Fania All-Stars and The Crusaders played on the same stage with Franco and TP OK Jazz, Manu Dibango, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Miriam Makeba, Zaiko Langa Langa and other African stars.
The story of the concert is documented in the 2008 film Soul Power and the music album Zaire 74: The African Artists
1984 Olympic Games
Los Angeles, US
The Los Angeles Olympics coincided with the peak of Lionel Richie’s career thanks to the success of his second solo album Can’t Slow Down released a year earlier.
Clad in a bedazzling jacket, Richie, accompanied by a large cast of breakdancers and cheerleaders, performed a nine-minute rendition of All Night Long to an estimated TV audience of 2.6 billion viewers. Who would have thought at the time that breakdancing would become an Olympic sport 40 years later, at the Paris Games.
Richie reminisced on a social media post in 2024: “That night, was a symbol of an unforgettable moment where music and sport collided in a brilliant display of unity and celebration.”
2010 FIFA World Cup
South Africa
The soundtrack of the first Fifa World Cup on African soil was Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Colombian singer Shakira and South African Afro-pop band Freshly Ground.
Adapted from a 1986 recording, Zangalewa, by Cameroonian band Golden Sounds, the event’s theme song was performed at the opening concert and closing ceremony of the World Cup.
The combination of an Afro-Latin groove with rumba-style guitar riffs made for an infectious rhythm that, combined with the rapturous mood of vuvuzela-blowing fans, created an atmosphere unlike any other in World Cup history.
Waka Waka is the most streamed Fifa World Cup song on Spotify and is among the top 20 most watched videos on YouTube with 4.10 billon views.
Super Bowl 56
Los Angeles, February 13 2022
The NFL Super Bowl halftime stage on February 13, 2022 was a celebration of 50 years of hip-hop by showcasing the genre’s most influential performers.
The stellar lineup was headlined by Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar with guest appearances by 50 Cent and Anderson Paak.
The legends and the hit-packed setlist all squeezed into 13 minutes drew wide critical acclaim and some controversy after Eminem took the knee in a gesture to protest racial injustice.
Ironically, the average viewership for the halftime show (103. 4 million) was higher than that of the game itself (101.1 million). Spotify reported a dramatic jump in the streams of the classic hits that each of the artiste had performed.
2024 Olympic Games
Paris, France
Celine Dion’s performance at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics was tinged with emotion as this was the Canadian’s first live performance in four years after a diagnosis of stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder.
The balcony of the Eiffel Tower provided a stately backdrop as one of the most distinct voices in pop music, delivered a powerful rendition of French singer Edith Piaf’s L’hymne à l’amour.
The International Olympic Committee released a video combining Dion’s performance with the scenes of drama and triumph from Paris 2024 to encapsulate the spirit of the competitions.
