A look into the history of halftime shows and the adrenaline-fueled fashions that accompanied them…

January 27, 1991 was a historical day for American football. Not only was it the year the New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills by one point (a sore spot for some–this writer included) it was also the year the National Football League (NFL) revolutionised its halftime show.

In lieu of a traditional marching band, Disney curated a technicoloured performance headlined by the hippest boy band at the time, New Kids On The Block. (For our Gen Z readers, think One Direction but with a 90’s twist.) Surrounded by a menagerie of 2,000 kids dressed in costumes singing, “It’s a Small World After All,” NKOTB’s sang their top hit “Style by Step.” And who could forget Whitney Houston filling the stadium with her powerhouse voice for her rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner?” America would not be the same.

Thirty years later, the fireworks have gotten brighter, the performances grander, and the crowds larger with 99.9 million viewers tuning into Super Bowl LIV just last year. It only makes sense the fashion would make just as much noise–and then some. Michael Jackson broke the infant internet, wearing a gold military-esque jacket for Super Bowl XXVII halftime in 1993. Opening with “Billie Jean,” the crowd was besides themselves as the King of Pop moonwalked across the stage. Beyonce would later pay homage in similar fashion, wearing an identical look by Dsquared2 for her Super Bowl 50 appearance.

Holding the crown for most viewed halftime show in history goes to Katy Perry, garnering more viewers than the actual game with a whopping 118.5 million people tuning in. In attire more fitting for Candyland than a football game, the singer wore a fiery look by Jeremy Scott in on field entrance putting the “show” in showmanship. (She quite literally arrived riding a giant faceted panther.) The crowd was in a trance as she sang her latest hit, “Roar.” 

This Super Bowl Sunday Canadian singer The Weeknd will be headlining the halftime show as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs take the field. The Weeknd has already revealed he will be singing solo, unaccompanied by the usual amount of fans on the field. Safety will remain a priority, setting the stage for a performance made that much more creative under the constraints of the pandemic. Tomorrow will no doubt be a lesson for the underdog–not just in the sport of the game on the field, but in the style of performance on stage.

In the meantime, take a closer look at the best fashion moments in Super Bowl history here…

This article was originally published on Feb 2, 2020 and was compiled by Stephanie Carmona Fagundes. It was updated on Feb 7, 2021 by Lauren Sanchez.