The Worst Super Bowl Halftime Shows, Ranked In Order

The Best (And Worst) Super Bowl Halftime Performances Ever
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The Best (And Worst) Super Bowl Halftime Performances Ever
Idolator Staff
| 4/21/26
Super Bowl halftime performances seem to either be really lit or really... not. The performances at the halftime show can be so amazing and uplifting, it's hard to decide what people are talking about more after it's all said and done: the game, or the halftime show! From the masters – Madonna, Prince, The Boss – to the misers –Miami Sound Machine, Blues Brothers, Toni Braxton – it's always talked about in the weeks after, and sometimes, the years! First, the worst. Next, the best. Plus some fun behind-the-scenes facts about the halftime shows.
Timberlake's Tribute To Prince, And Selfie Kid
Christopher Polk/Getty Images
The 2018 Super Bowl featured one of the best entertainers of this generation. After some controversy surrounding his return to the big stage after his mishap with Janet Jackson, it turned out to be a great performance. He did all of his classics and then added in a tribute to the late Prince.
After he was tired of doing all his dance moves on stage, he took to the crowd. While he was parlaying with the fans, Timberlake took a selfie with an unsuspecting kid. That one selfie earned him enough clout to appear on Ellen.
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Worst: Gloria Estefan & Olympic Figure Skaters, 1992
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Alice Hall/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
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The theme was "Winter Magic," for the Minnesota cold, so obviously there were gigantic snowmen and at the time famous ice skaters, Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano. You can see a whole lot of randomly choreographed dancing and little impish figures running here.
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And Gloria Estefan, with her Miami Sound Machine, dancing and singing and trying to turn the beat around. It didn't work, and the TV audience chose to watch In Living Color 's live comedy special. No one expected it to find an audience, but the special was a hit, and the super bowl halftime was a dud. This shook up the halftime organizers, who got serious about drawing in an audience for the next year: they went big with Michael Jackson.
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Best: Rolling Stones, 2006
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The Rolling Stones kicked off Super Bowl 2006 by getting right into the rock and roll and busting out "Start Me Up," "Rough Justice," and the expected but still completely satisfying "Satisfaction." Mick Jagger joked before singing "Satisfaction," "This one we could have done for Super Bowl I."
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With some of the more racy lyrics changed or left out altogether, the show producer still chose to sue a ten-second delay in case of emergencies with lyrics or words. The Stones put on a loud, enthusiastic show that pleased the crowds and the critics. They played a 12-minute set that was completed by "Rough Justice."
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Worst: Blues Brothers, 1997
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Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc
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Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, and Jim Belushi formed the Blues Brothers band, though John Belushi (yes, Jim's brother) was dead. The Blues Brothers did some blues and soul which fell flat. When The Godfather of Soul (James Brown, of course) showed up, it could have been great, but it was a "day late, dollar too short."
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Catherine Crier and ZZ Top (those classic rockers) showed up for some good times, (singing "Tush"- really?) but the whole thing was deflated too badly by then, and the audience was more interested in filling their popcorn buckets and getting a fresh drink with lime than watching the tops.
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Worst: Pete Fountain, Irma Thomas, Doug Kershaw and Snoopy, 1990
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Photo by George Rose/Getty Images
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The 1990 Super Bowl halftime was two tributes: to New Orleans, and to the 40th anniversary of the comic strip Peanuts. Luckily, this was in New Orleans, so the music was still worth listening to.
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It all ended with Snoopy dancing on a Mississippi River steamboat to "When the Saints Go Marching In," which segued into "Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown." The jumble of influences and lack of a coherent musical theme directly impacted the audience's enjoyment of this halftime show, as well as its legacy, which is to end up on many of "worst Super Bowl halftime shows" lists.
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Worst: Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, 1995
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Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett, Teddy Pendergrass, and Miami Sound Machine all participated in this halftime show, which The Bleacher Report called "the craziest, weirdest, most unbelievable—and many would say the worst—Super Bowl halftime show ever."
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The NFL had a problem after Michael Jackson's successful halftime show, according to Jim Steeg, the NFL Senior Vice President of Special Events at one time. "After Michael Jackson, a lot of big, A-list talent was afraid to compete with him." This show had skydivers, live pythons, an actor playing Indiana Jones, and plenty of stunt people. And now it also has a place in history as one of the worst halftime shows ever!
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Worst: Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, and Tina Turner, 2000
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If that's not enough performers for you, how about Toni Braxton and Edward James Olmos, too? The website For the Win said of the singing acts, "The singers performed five songs. More than a decade later, I doubt there’s a single person who could name them, Collins or Aguilera included."
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An orchestra opened and right afterward, Christina Aquilera and Enrique Iglesias sang a mild duet to start the Disney-sponsored, international-themed affair for the new millennium. Unfortunately, this Lion King -meets-Broadway-style production didn't fly with viewers or those who make lists about good Super Bowl halftime shows!
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Worst: Black Eyed Peas, 2011
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The Black Eyed Peas did what they do: wore light-up robot suits, and sang a version of the very, very old song, "I've Had the Time of My Life." Slash, the fierce guitarist from Guns N' Roses (you know, the huge '80s rock and roll band) was there but Fergie sang "Sweet Child o' Mine," which caught a whole lot of flack in the media.
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Rolling Stone said of the show, "The worst. Just the worst. Watching at the time, you instantly knew you were witnessing something magical and special – like seeing a unicorn cough up blood." Ouch. On the other hand, website For The Win wrote, "It was merely watchable and entertaining. Is that so bad?"
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Worst: The New Kids on the Block, 1991
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Photo by Gin Ellis/Getty Images
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This halftime show was supposedly in support of our troops, but many couldn't see how, exactly. The show featured Disney characters and small children jumping around to the New Kids’ song, “Step by Step” and the Disney classic “It’s A Small World." It was the first year that a contemporary group played at the halftime of the Super Bowl.
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This was also the year Whitney Houston delivered her incredible performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that went on to become a huge hit and best-selling, certified platinum, single. This was what was truly remembered from this halftime show. The show wasn't even played live on TV; many networks just played a condensed version after the game, or none at all.
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Worst: The Who, 2010
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Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage
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For the Win was so under-impressed by The Who's 2010 Super Bowl halftime show, they wrote, "Remember when there was an uproar after NBC cut away from The Who’s Closing Ceremony perform…

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