"The NFL recently announced their new social justice platform Inspire Change, and I am honored to be a part of its inaugural year.What a voice! A sensational #SuperBowl national anthem from Gladys Knight just made her hometown – and nation – very proud. “I am proud to use my voice to unite and represent our country in my hometown of Atlanta," she said. Prior to Sunday's showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots, the soul legend issued a statement addressing the calls for a boycott as a show of solidarity with Kaepernick. It was flawless, really, from her understated reading of the first few lines to the total show of force with which she brought things to a soulful climax, holding the word "free" for eight or nine seconds. At 74. Introduced as the Empress of Soul, Atlanta native Gladys Knight looked positively radiant in a stylishly retro white dress and tiara as she turned in a breathtaking National Anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl, accompanied by subtle orchestration while standing in front of a color guard. "Moves Like Jagger" Gladys Knight's National Anthem And that was abundantly clear in the most contagious moments of their set, from "This Love" to "Sugar." Maroon 5 setlist And if you didn't like Maroon 5 going in, then you've already shared your thoughts on social media about how bad it was.īut there's a reason they've managed to carve out a place for themselves at the top of the pop game at a time when soul and hip-hop have emerged as the new sound of young America. Overall, it was the sort of mainstream pop event that it was clearly meant to be. It was, by far, the best part of the show and one that had to leave a lot of people wishing Big Boi had just stuck around to finish out the set. And OutKast's Big Boi arrived in a sweet vintage Cadillac, emerging in a huge fur coat and an Atlanta baseball cap, accompanied by Sleepy Brown, to do his biggest OutKast hit, "The Way You Move." Travis Scott turned in a pyro-laden "Sicko Mode" then stage-dived his way out of there. That left plenty of time for a social-media olive branch in the form of a tribute to "SpongeBob SquarePants," whose creator, Stephen Hillenburg, died in November, as well as guest appearances by two Atlanta hip-hop stars. Their set was slick and predictable, loaded with plenty of pyro and hits galore, from their first single, "Harder to Breathe," to "Girls Like You." He added that he'd rather move on and "speak through the music.”Īnd on that front, well, it doesn't help that the music Maroon 5 performed at the Super Bowl spoke volumes to how much they've been inspired by black music, from the soulful pop of "This Love" to slinky funk guitar of "Moves Like Jagger," which featured a shirtless Levine moving more like a Chippendale dancer. He spoke to many people, he said. "Most importantly, though, I silenced all the noise and listened to myself, and made my decision about how I felt.” Rihanna was also reportedly asked to perform and turned it down.īut Maroon 5 decided the biggest show they'd ever played must go on.Īs Levine told Entertainment Weekly, “No one put more thought and love into this than I did." But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.” Which is the other problem they had going into Sunday's halftime show performance.Ĭardi B made it clear that she wouldn't perform at Sunday's game to protest the NFL's treatment of Colin Kaepernick, the former player who launched a political movement by taking a knee while the National Anthem was playing.Īs their featured guest on "Girls Like You" told the Associated Press, "I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. 1 last fall with "Girls Like You," which featured Cardi B, who did not join them at the Super Bowl. I'd have that same problem with plenty of groups.Īnd this is for an act that just spent seven weeks at No. The backlash got so bad that people even thought it was a thing to joke about the fact that most folks couldn't name a member of Maroon 5 not named Adam. And yet, the NFL's decision to bring them in to headline this year's Super Bowl was met with a wave of derision Twitter hasn't seen for a Super Bowl act since Coldplay got the gig. They've topped the Hot 100 more times in the 21st Century than any other group or duo, with an endless string of multi-platinum singles to their name. They're the mainstream-pop sensations people love to hate – the Nickelback of blue-eyed soul. There was virtually no chance of Adam Levine and Maroon 5 emerging unscathed on social media from Sunday's halftime show performance at Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta.
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