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On this day in 2007, Prince won Super Bowl XLI with a soaring halftime performance that climaxed with the skies opening up to honor his guitar solo. It is not just the best-regarded halftime show ever, but was to that point the most-viewed musical performance in American history.
Prince’s halftime show wasn’t just a fun diversion from a football game; it was a deeply personal statement on race, agency & artistry from an artist determined to cement his long-term legacy. And he did it on his own terms, as always.
Opening with the stomp-stomp-clap of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, Prince went for crowd participation right from the start, with a nod to one of the biggest stadium anthems of all time — and notably, is one of the songs in the set that he never performed any time before or after.
Prince was signaling that he was going to win over a football crowd. He launches straight into “Let’s Go Crazy”. As one of the best album- and concert-opening songs of all time, this was a perfect choice. But it’s also the *only* of his 5 number one singles included in the set.
This is a motif with this performance; Prince’s setlist was unexpected, and inspired. Imagine Michael Jackson doing a halftime set but omitting Billie Jean, or Springsteen leaving off Born To Run. This set skips When Doves Cry, Kiss and countless more hits, in favor of... covers?
For example, next up we get a medley of Baby I’m A Star and 1999 sandwiched around Proud Mary. Of course the two big crowd-pleasing Prince hits make sense, but let’s consider what role Proud Mary is playing here.
Though it’s a CCR song, the definitive version of “Proud Mary” is Tina Turner’s version — and Prince is clearly belting our *Tina's* version of the song along with @therealshelbyj. It’s important to note that half of Prince’s bandmates on his biggest stage ever are women.
What Ike & Tina did with Proud Mary was, in many ways, a reclamation of rock & roll as Black music, taking back a song by performing it better than the artist who wrote it. It's also a way of uniquely bridging all the different audiences Prince wanted to reach.
Prince’s first-ever experience in playing a stadium had been opening for The Rolling Stones in 1981, when their fans had repeatedly unleashed a torrent of racist, homophobic bile at Prince and his band, hounding them from the stage by throwing objects & garbage at the band.
From that point on, Prince never opened for another act, and almost never played except on his home turf — a stage he controlled, in a show he headlined. He had a well-earned reluctance to make himself vulnerable by performing on any terms that weren’t his own.
Prince also didn't like big events that were corny or clichéd, and for many years, that's why he had declined to do the Super Bowl. But this time, Prince clearly wanted to do the show his way, and bring the audience along with him in defining and claiming his place in music.
Prince even went along with all of necessary machinations surrounding the Super Bowl. He did a commercial (!) that was sponsored by Pepsi. He even did a press conference for media, like other halftime performers. Only, well... he did it Prince-style. https://twitter.com/IAmMissTLC/status/959158972518490113
But then, having gotten this stage, Prince tells his story. This is the moment Prince brings out the @FAMU_1887 Marching 100. As we saw later in Homecoming, there’s a profound power in recontextualizing familiar hits within the unique musical (and on-field!) tradition of HBCUs.
Next is a medley of All Along The Watchtower & The Best Of You. Watchtower is a deep choice here: Dylan is the only other artist as key to Minnesota music history, and the definitive version of the song is Hendrix's, whose impact on Prince is undeniable, if at times overstated.
But consider what Jimi did — All Along the Watchtower is another song written by a white artist, where the definitive version is the rock & roll rendition reclaimed by a Black artist. And both are artists whose names were brought up in discussions of Prince for his entire career.
So why is a Foo Fighters cover next? One reason is clearly Prince’s playful love/hate relationship with artists covering his work. Though Prince liked & respected (and jammed with!) Dave Grohl, he also bristled whenever his songs were covered without explicit permission.
Just a few years prior, the Foo Fighters had gotten an alternative radio hit out of their cover of Prince’s”Darling Nikki”. Those same stations had never added Prince’s hits to their playlists; that same song topped the list when Congress began persecuting pop artists in the 80s.
So Prince did what Tina and Jimi had done: he took the biggest stage, and played the song better than the guy who wrote it. Not as a snub (though Prince was certainly _not_ above pettiness), but just to remind the world who he was, and what tradition he was part of.
Importantly, too, the lyrics to Best of You speak directly to Prince’s decades-long baffle for ownership and control of his work, including his master recordings. "Everyone's got their chains to break.. is someone getting the best of you?"
And then, finally, Purple Rain. This was a crowning achievement in a career of unbelievable moments.
Yes, Prince really did ask, “Can u make it rain harder?”
Yes, Prince really did ask, “Can u make it rain harder?”
This is one of the best-ever performances of Purple Rain not because of the audience size, or any technical aspects (it’s not the best solo he ever played), but because it connects to decades of Prince’s place in culture.
When Prince kicks over the mic stand at the height of his guitar solo, it echoes his performance at the 1985 American Music Awards, a milestone of his commercial peak. His impishly silhouetted phallic guitar alludes to past provocations like cavorting around in assless pants.
Then there’s the most moving moment, seeing the genuine emotion on Prince’s face as he’s literally bathed in Purple Rain. The song comes to an end, and he stands clearly genuinely grateful to his audience, and aware he's made one of his most definitive artistic statements.
Prince was justifiably proud of his Super Bowl triumph. A week later, he aired a thank you during the Grammys for the overwhelming response. Today, at @PaisleyPark, there’s a commemoration of the performance. Prince had wanted to ensure it remained a permanent part of his legacy.
this last tweet in the thread will mysteriously disappear in 17 minutes https://www.facebook.com/princepartyuk/videos/prince-super-bowl-xli-halftime-show-2007-full-show/1684909648222402/
