Katy Perry's Super Bowl half-time show named most-watched in history

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Eric Garcia

Washington Bureau Chief

Katy Perry is celebrating performing the most-viewed Super Bowl half-time show in history.

The US pop star was joined by Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott for the high-profile slot on Sunday night, which Nielsen figures say was watched by average 118.5 million viewers.

Perry’s 12-minute gig attracted 3.2 million more viewers than Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' previous record last year.

Her colourful performance featured a string of costume changes courtesy of fashion designer Jeremy Scott, a giant glitzy tiger (or lion, no-one is quite sure) and the suddenly famous ‘Left Shark’ backing dancer who could not keep in time with the upbeat tunes.

Perry played a string of hits including “Dark Horse”, “Firework”, “California Gurls” and “Roar”.

Kravitz helped the 30-year-old perform “I Kissed a Girl” before Elliot played her own medley of hits with “Get Ur Freak On”, “Lose Control” and “Work It” hyping up the crowd.

Perry was so excited to bag the Super Bowl gig that she got a tattoo reading XLIX to mark the 49th NFL championship game.

New Kids on the Block were the first to perform at the Super Bowl in 1991.