I was like, ‘You made history.’ And he was like, ‘I always make history. She said: “You could tell he was very happy with his performance. He ended up leading his crew through a medley of “1999”/“Baby, I’m Star” alongside the Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band, a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary,” Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower,” and the Foo Fighters’ “Best Of You,” before ending his historic set with “Purple Rain.” Prince’s personal assistant, Ruth Arzate, later shared her memories of the night with The Ringer magazine. Less than two minutes in, Prince plays the first guitar solo and involves the audience in a quick back and forth of shouting “Go crazy!”.Įvery musician on stage is on their toes because they know Prince is always good for surprises and might just spontaneously launch into any song. Prince and the band then launch into the energetic part of the song while the rain slowly starts to collect on the TV camera screens. The actual performance also featured Renato Neto on keys, vocalist Shelby J., and “The Twinz” (dancers Maya and Nandy McClean).Īs the stage in the shape of Prince’s so-called love symbol lights up, the artist addresses the 75,000 people in the stadium and roughly 140 million viewers with the first lines of the song: Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. 1 2 Mischer's company, Mischer Productions, was the executive producer and director. Background and development The executive producer of the show was Don Mischer. Prince himself, Hayes on keys, Josh Dunham on bass, and Cora Coleman-Dunham on drums nailed the trial run. The Super Bowl XLI halftime show took place on Februat Dolphin Stadium in Miami Florida as part of Super Bowl XLI. He shared his memories of Prince’s private show in the musician’s house in an interview with Billboard, saying: “We played most of the set - and we completely smoked it.” Hayes quoted members of the committee who reacted by saying: “This is incredible-just four people are making this wall of sound?”Īt that point, the committee had only heard a stripped-down lineup. Prince’s long-time keyboard player, Morris Hayes, remembers how well the first showcase a few months before the Super Bowl went. The event’s producers had been cautious about booking family-friendly acts after Justin Timberlake’s and Janet Jackson’s performance in 2004 had resulted in half a million complaints and an investigation by the FCC because of a costume reveal gone wrong. Five years gone, we revisit the films of Prince.

Plus Under The Cherry Moon, Purple Rain (The Movie) and more.

When Prince invited a group of Super Bowl executives to Los Angeles to discuss the possibility of a performance, the team around David Saltz, who worked with the NFL, was excited but somewhat wary. His Super Bowl Halftime Show is the best there ever was, the best there ever will be. How Prince came to perform at the Super Bowl

Prince purple rain super bowl