The Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals will face off this Sunday for Super Bowl LVI, with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige performing during halftime.
Related: Madonna has a strongly worded message for 50 Cent and his “bullsh*t apology”
As we gear up for the big show, there’s one Super Bowl performance we’ll never forget. February 5 marked the 10 year anniversary of Madonna’s iconic set at Super Bowl XLVI, during which she sang some of her biggest hits, including “Music,” “Vogue,” “Express Yourself,”‘ and “Like A Prayer,” among others.
Related: Sandra Bernhard just got brutally honest about her former BFF Madonna
It was the first Super Bowl halftime show to be headlined by a sole female performer since Diana Ross in 1996. Madonna’s set was watched by over 114 million people, higher than the viewership of the game itself, and featured guest performances by Nicki Minaj, M.I.A, CeeLo Green, and LMFAO.
Queerty archeologists unearthed some rare rehearsal footage of Madonna preparing for the big event in 2012. Check it out…
And now, re-live the amazing performance…
Long live the queen.
slimjim
Not my favorite Superbowl performance. I thought it was really lacking and unfortunate that it was timed with one her worst singles she ever released. The entrance was pretty great but it was all downhill from there. Course MIA really made a mess of it by giving the middle finger.
Bonuscheque
I love this performance. Her half time show got watched more than the actual game – fun fact!
nm4047
that’s pretty much the case with all superbowls.
bsg1967
My goddess since 84 but Ga Ga’s show was amazing and I’m only a casual fan of hers. Madge had too much lip sync and song selection was terrible considering her catalogue. Just disappointing
lykeitiz
The song selection was terrible considering her catalogue?? Um…..what?
Yeah, she included those duds “Music,” “Vogue,” “Express Yourself,”‘ and “Like A Prayer”
LOL – Have a seat……
rangerwilcox
so she rehearses, something expected of all performers.
cc423
Meh-donna
BLAKENOW
The Queen ? NO She has been dethroned years ago. Sadly she is now just pathetic. and I used to own everything she ever put out now her stuff is unlistenable…Divas with real voices stand the test of time, they also know when to bow out and let someone new take over. Madonna tore up that memo.
Gabby
In the last decade, this “pathetic has been” has set touring records that no other solo artist can beat. Artists half her age with billions of streams can’t fill arenas or stadiums, so they don’t tour or have to cancel the tour they started. Also, in the last 10 years, she has had 3 #1 albums – that debuted at #1 all over the world. If you browse through todays album charts, you will notice that she is the only artist to have 5-6 of her albums always charting. I think your distaste for a self made successful female says more about your self limiting beliefs than it does about a memo you think Madonna should read.
louie
@Gabby – WAS the queen. Sorry your panties are in a twist because you can’t accept the truth. And yeah, that last tour was a disaster. Get over it.
Gabby
@louie Did you see the show live? Even with and injury it earned her her best reviews. I find it so odd when people leave negative comments online. I am sorry you are not happy.
Jessica savage
M is on another level you peasant if you would’ve grown with her you’d know that
smittoons
I would not deem “Madame X” to be “unlistenable,” and it was still a number 1 album. It’s worth checking out the filmed version of its tour on Paramount+. This was not a show from an artist completely past her prime with nothing of interest to say or a spent creative spark.
No, we aren’t in the Material Girl/Music or even Confessions on a Dancefloor level of influence and output, and her appearance and behavior as of late has been… interesting, but I see no reason why she needs to bow out. She wrote the rules to her own playbook, so she gets to decide when to pull back. If people still buy tickets and top creatives still work with her, then she can still be Queen of a sizable kingdom.
davidpaul
I never understood why gay men worship her. I remember laughing while watching her roll around on the street in one of those first videos. She was trying so hard to sell sex to hetero teen boys. Culture Club’s first album was out a year previous to Madonna’s, and as a gay teen I gravitated towards Boy George singing about his rough relationship with then-boyfriend, John Moss. I was an “out and proud” teen who got bullied a lot in the 80’s and I didn’t see anything in Madonna that I could identify with. The same era gave us Erasure, Dead or Alive, Bronski Beat- all out and proud. I’ve always liked a lot of Madonna’s songs, but her constant sleazy female act was a big turn off to me. All of those “firsts?” Do some research into Josephine Baker; she already did it all in the 1920’s- and if Josephine didn’t, Cher did it during the 1970’s. I guess gay men want to BE Madonna!
Jim
Nice of Queerty trying to make this has-been relevant.
Gabby
Relevant enough for you to click on the post and leave a comment. You see how that works?
Ronbo
I love to see haters like Jim exposing that they just love to hate. They can’t help what they love – they just choose to hate.
craigbrew2
She is a has been and is no longer relevant.
LumpyPillows
LOL.
Heywood Jablowme
The Editors who wrote this have decided they like Madonna… THIS week. Tune in next week when they decide she was in some imaginary catfight!
lykeitiz
Easily one of the greatest half-time shows of all time. Right up there with Prince.
Duetting with CeeLo on “Like A Prayer” was a smart choice.
Haters pick apart small moments of lip synching while she’s doing gymnastics on stage. In terms of stage production and choreography, it was stunning.
Insta_DudeKembro
Best halftime show ever. Sad my generation has boring emo teenybop singers, not greats like Queen Madge, Whitney, Mariah, Michael, Prince etc. What has happened to music? Legacy artists dominate streaming, I certainly understand why.
louie
The way she’s injected her body with so much silicone and plastic, she’s more suited for being a balloon float in the Macy’s parade.
MynameisSid
I love her but you just made me laugh out loud!
Rikki Roze
Perfect description of M. today. Ha!
Berkshires Jim
I had forgotten just how good this was! It’s sad to see guys here trashing her…she was years ahead of anyone else. You cannot look at this and not admire the incredible amount of work that went into it…the seamless performance shows that. Compare it to many of the past halftimes and they all pale in comparison….except Gaga. That one also stands out. Let’s give the old girl a break and acknowledge this performance.
Jessica savage
Madonna lives the best life for a girl!
Jim
Madonna is a has been
Jack
Makes me miss that gorgeous woman. She can do whatever she wants to her face. But I’ll bet she would be beautiful without all the ish she has done.
Diplomat
Sorry but, she lost me at hello.
ScottOnEarth
One of the best half-time performances, ever. It’s up there with Beyonce’s incredible performance. People love to send hate to Madonna because she’s a successful, strong-willed woman who’s happy with her life but she is THE Queen and is completely self-made, unlike so many of the newer pop stars.
mz.sam
Madge is so REDUCTIVE! At least I can recognize that she WHO she is.
LumpyPillows
I’m not sure you know what reductive means. I’m at a loss as to how you are applying it. It tends to be a word some people use to try and look smart, but don’t really understand. As for you last sentence, I have no idea what you are saying. What a mess.
Just.my.opinion
Madonna is, and has always been, greatly overrated.
Ronbo
Because your song is much better? Hate and derision are overrated.
Tranceboi1
So many haters on hear. You are all just jealous of the number one female artist of all time. Look it up bitches! You complain behind your keyboard about someone who is better and more famous than you ever will be. Get some help haters. You need it.
Ronbo
So true! Queerty attracts a lot of insecure people spouting hate. Could it be that the editors are drawn that way also… for profit?
Is it really “profit” when a queer site employs a gay man, Graham Gremore, to attack gay people and our supporters? Don’t forget that gay politician, Alex Morse, was falsely characterized by Gremore here in MULTIPLE false stories as a corrupt, child molester!!! Gremore didn’t disclose his profits from helping the much, Much, MUCH more conservative politician beat the progressive Morse.
Clean up your act Editors and maybe the readers will stop spouting such hateful, harmful, hurtful nonsense. Triggering and endorsing hate used to be the realm of Republicans.
Queerty needs to rethink their M.O… hate.
GentlemanCaller
Queen of lip-synching maybe. Girl didn’t sing a note. Unlike Gaga, who sang live.
graphicjack
For all the haters, yes, she’s still the Queen. Does anyone question whether Elvis is ‘The King’ or MJ is the ‘King of Pop’, even if they are no longer alive, let alone relevant? No. The title of ‘Queen of Pop’ will ALWAYS be Madonna’s because her level of success is unmatched by other female artists and she is the fourth best selling artist in music EVER, male or female. Know where Gaga currently is? 40… that’s four-zero. The title has nothing to do with relevance, it has to do with lifetime achievement and influence within pop music and culture, and no one even comes close to her, except Rihanna, and M’s sales figures haven’t even been updated for a decade or so. When the new numbers come out, she’ll blow everyone out of the water.
Here’s the thing I say to all you fans of other artists… love your favourite. That’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s enough room for all these heifers and someone can be YOUR number one but the stats are the stats. Trying to diminish M’s legacy doesn’t make your favourite artist any better or worse. How about we all just listen to the music we want to and stop putting everyone against each other? It’s frankly childish. And sexist. And considering everything M did for our community when we were dying of AIDS and no one but M and a small handful of others actually gave a shit and supported us, it would be nice if we at least acknowledged all she’s done for our community.
mastik8
She has the right to look like Jigsaw if she wants. Her life. We have the right to comment on it. Our lives. You have the right to criticize us for criticizing her. Your life.