For the 50th Super Bowl, the NFL brought in Coldplay as the headliner with the featured special guests Beyonce and Bruno Mars. Both entertainers had previously performed at Super Bowls, but in this special one, they performed together. Before Beyonce and Bruno Mars were chosen, other acts under consideration were Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, and One Direction. There were even talks of Maroon 5 performing. But at the end of the day, Coldplay, Beyonce, and Bruno won the gig. When Chris Martin first approached Bruno about performing his hit song “Uptown Funk” with Beyonce, at first, Bruno didn’t think it was a good idea, and he suggested Martin see what Beyonce thought about the idea.
To get Beyonce’s opinion, Chris Martin and Bruno videotaped themselves with Chris singing a song to Beyonce so that she’d come to do the Super Bowl with them. Apparently, Chris Martin’s charm worked because she ended up agreeing to perform. As it turns out, at that time, both Beyonce and Bruno were dieting and stressing out about their diets. The day before the performance, they were together backstage watching playback while Beyonce munched on a bag of Cheetos. An astonished Bruno asked Beyonce, “That’s what you’re doing?” and Beyonce replied that at this late date, there’s nothing else to do. She added that “it’s gonna be what it’s gonna be” and then said, “So I’m gonna enjoy this bag of Cheetos.” And that is why she’s Queen Bey!
When they were starting to perform, Bruno, Mark Ronson, a troupe of backup dancers dressed in Michael Jackson style leather, and Beyonce appeared. Backing Beyonce was a group of female backup dancers dressed as Black Panthers. Bruno’s group gathered onstage together to perform “Uptown Funk,” and midway through the song, Beyonce came in with her group to sing a mashup of sorts of “Uptown Funk” and “Formation.” The show received some criticism, with some people saying that Beyonce’s choice of music was anti-police.
Image via YouTube
In the video below, you can watch what The Guardian’s Alex Needham called “Queen Bey at the height of her powers,” performing with Bruno Mars in a performance that would become the stuff of legends.
