With so much attention going, understandably, to Bad Bunny’s Halftime concert during Super Bowl LX, you’d be forgiven for thinking no one else was performing. But actually, there are three other artists who just took the stage (or the field) to welcome the audience to the Big Game.
Pop-punkers Green Day headlined the Super Bowl pregame show and reminded us all why guyliner never went out of style. If the pick of Green Day seemed a little random to you, then you should know the choice was actually perfect given the game’s region. This year, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots face off at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Green Day is a Bay Area band, having formed there in the 1990s before hitting mainstream success.
“We are super hyped to open Super Bowl 60 right in our backyard!” singer Billie Joe Armstrong said in a statement. “We are honored to welcome the MVPs who’ve shaped the game and open the night for fans all over the world. Let’s have fun! Let’s get loud!”
The band is also still plenty popular. “Wake Me Up When September Ends” hit a billion Spotify streams a week before the Super Bowl, becoming the group’s fourth song to pass the mark. After this concert, we expect a few more tracks will see a spike in listeners.
Green Day played a medley of their hits at the Super Bowl preshow, including “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and “American Idiot.” The band has never been known for keeping their opinions to themselves, and many expected Armstrong to use the platform to say a few words about this unusually politically charged moment. However, the band kept the political statements to their lyrics this time—but without reaching the point in “American Idiot” where Armstrong usually sings “not part of the MAGA agenda,” disappointing some fans.
Also during the preshow, Brandi Carlile and Coco Jones took the mic to sing “America the Beautiful” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” respectively. Though the songs are no doubt blatantly patriotic (“Lift Every Voice and Sing” is colloquially known as the “Black National Anthem”), the choice of performers indicates the NFL’s willingness to embrace figures who are outspoken against President Trump.
Carlile, an out lesbian, is a vocal opponent of the president’s administration. She most recently posted a statement about the Minnesota ICE raids and killings on Instagram, and wore an “ICE OUT” pin to the Grammys. Jones hasn’t made any political statements but was happy to film herself smiling with then VP Kamala Harris during the Biden administration.
In the eyes of social media, neither Carlile nor Jones could do wrong. Many interpreted Jones’s white ensemble during the Super Bowl pregame show as a reference to an iconic Whitney Houston Super Bowl performance.
Finally, just before kickoff, Charlie Puth performed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Puth isn’t as political as many of his contemporaries, but when he does speak on partisan issues, he seems to lean left. He’s pro-choice and pro-gun control, for instance.
And all this before Bad Bunny uttered a single note!
