Katy Perry at the Super Bowl continues trend of chart-topping performers
Perry, who the NFL has announced will perform at the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show, joins the ranks of singers like Beyoncé and Bruno Mars who have performed at the halftime show over the past few years and have recently topped the charts with their singles.
Katy Perry performs on stage at 'The Prismatic World Tour' at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
John Shearer/Invision/AP
Singer Katy Perry will perform at the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show, according to the NFL.
As we previously reported, Perry has been the rumored choice for several weeks. The NFL initially declined to comment when the story broke about Perry being the next halftime act. However, unnamed sources were said to have confirmed at the time that she had been chosen.
However, the league has now announced that Perry will perform on Feb. 1 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.
Perry tweeted about her participation in the show on Nov. 23, writing,
According to the NFL, more than 115 million viewers watched last year’s halftime show with Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the NFL discussed with a few of the artists who were being considered for the halftime show whether they would be willing to pay to perform. NFL spokesperson Joanna Hunter told the WSJ at the time that the contracts were not public. Perry, the band Coldplay, and the singer Rihanna were the three artists who had reportedly made the shortlist for the halftime show.
When Perry was on the ESPN show “College Game Day,” she said, “I'm not the kind of girl who would pay to play the Super Bowl.”
The choice of Perry to perform at the halftime show continues the NFL’s trend of selecting singers who recently topped the singles charts. After the infamous halftime show involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, the NFL looked to classic rock acts such as Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones for the Super Bowl (not that that’s a bad thing –all three made our list of the best halftime shows ever). However, recent halftime shows have found current chart-toppers like Beyoncé and Bruno Mars taking the stage. Singles off Perry’s most recent album Prism, which was released in October 2013, included “Roar” and “Dark Horse." “Roar” was at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, while “Horse” was at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.