Beyoncé at the Super Bowl: A history ahead of her Christmas Day halftime show
Pop star is preparing to perform a special halftime show on Christmas Day, where she will debut live versions of songs from her Grammy-nominated album ‘Cowboy Carter’
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Your support makes all the difference.Beyoncé is performing a special halftime show for Netflix’s inaugural NFL Christmas Gameday on 25 December.
The pop megastar will make an appearance during the halftime period of the second game of the night, which sees the Houston Texans take on the Baltimore Ravens.
Beyoncé, who was raised in Houston, Texas, will debut live versions of songs from her latest, Grammy-nominated album, Cowboy Carter.
Released earlier this year, the record features country music influences and collaborations with Dolly Parton, Reyna Roberts, Linda Martell, Shaboozey and Willie Nelson.
While details of her performance have been kept under wraps, Beyoncé is widely expected to bring out some special guests on Wednesday night.
She’s no stranger to Super Bowl halftime shows, having headlined in 2013 and also made a guest appearance when Coldplay headlined in 2016, which many critics agreed stole the limelight from Chris Martin’s band.
The day before the event, Beyoncé had surprise-released her new song, “Formation”, along with a politically charged music video set in New Orleans that addressed racial discrimination, police brutality and southern identity.
At the Super Bowl, the most-watched television event of the year in the United States, she performed the song while backed by a troupe of dancers dressed in berets, in apparent reference to the uniform of the Black Panthers – the Black power organisation founded just 40 miles from the Santa Clara stadium where Beyoncé’s performance took place.
At one point, Beyoncé and her dancers raised their fists in the air, emulating the Black Panthers’ salute, and also moved into an “X” formation, in an apparent reference to civil rights revolutionary Malcolm X, who was shot dead in 1965.
Her performance generated international headlines, with many critics calling it “the night’s true event”. It was also controversial among right-wing voices, with some protestors calling for an “anti-Beyoncé” rally to take place outside the NFL headquarters (no one turned up).
“Beyoncé effortlessly stole the Super Bowl half-time show right from under Coldplay’s noses with a guest slot that affirmed her brilliance as a performer,” The Guardian’s review said.
“As soon as Beyoncé marched onto the football field, clad in skintight leather and Michael Jackson-style military gold sashes, with a posse of impeccably choreographed female dancers dressed like Seventies Black Panthers, it was time for an early bath for Chris Martin’s band.”
Three years earlier, in 2013, the Lemonade artist headlined the Super Bowl with a medley of some of her greatest hits, including “Crazy in Love”, an acapella rendition of “Love on Top”, “End of Time” and “Baby Boy”.
She concluded with a shock Destiny’s Child reunion, where she was joined by her former bandmates Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland. The performance became one of the most tweeted-about moments on Twitter (now X) at the time and received widespread acclaim from critics.
Beyoncé’s performance will take place halfway through the second game of the day at Houston’s NRG Stadium, which begins at 4.30pm EST.
Fans with an active Netflix subscription can tune in to the NFL game as well as the performances; they will only have until 11pm EST to re-watch the entire stream.
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