“Single ladies,” unite…
Pop megastar and multiple Grammy winner Beyonce will be joining British indie band Coldplay this February during their halftime performance at Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California.
. @BEYONCE . #SUPERBOWL . FEELINGS. pic.twitter.com/d28rD52MAd
— On Air/Ryan Seacrest (@OnAirWithRyan) January 7, 2016
According to a report Thursday evening from Associated Press , Pepsi, which sponsors the Super Bowl halftime show, confirmed that Beyonce will return to the Super Bowl stage and be appearing and performing alongside Coldplay, who were announced as the half time show’s headliner just last month and promised to make the most of their opportunity.
“Are you kidding me? It’s the greatest moment of our band’s life. We’re going to give it everything we have,” Coldplay front-man, Chris Martin, declared in an interview with Entertainment Weekly back in early December regarding his band’s halftime performance.
According to Entertainment Weekly , the two will collaborate to perform a live rendition of “Hymn for the Weekend”: a single off Coldplay’s seventh studion album, A Head Full of Dreams, which happens to feature vocals by the “Single Ladies” artist, Beyonce.
The news shouldn’t come as a surprise too many. Talks of a possible collaboration had been whirling around the web for several weeks now, and the two acts have a history that goes back several years. Coldplay and Beyonce’s husband, Jay Z , have teamed up a few times in the past on record and on stage. Beyonce is also featured on two tracks of the band’s newest album, which was released December 4,2015.
According to the group it is the first time that they have collaborated with another musician on one of their albums. However, labeling Beyonce as just “another musician” is an understatement.
She has tallied 20 Grammy awards (compared to Coldplay’s 7) in her lifetime, which is second among female artists only to Alison Krauss .
Queen Bey is no stranger to Super Bowl stage. The multifaceted star headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show in New Orleans and created a welcomed sense of nostalgia when she was joined by Destiny’s Child bandmates, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.
Entertainment Tonight also speculated that 2013 Super Bowl performer Bruno Mars might also be making an appearance on stage with Coldplay at some point in their halftime performance. If the rumors are true, it would mark the first time in Super Bowl Halftime performance history that two previous acts from different years came back to perform in the same show.
With the amount of viewers taking in the actual Super Bowl game (and some just trying to catch those Super Bowl commercials ) totaling an excess of 110 million, The Super Bowl Halftime show has become somewhat of a “Super Bowl” of musical performances for the artist(s) headlining the act.
Not only are these musicians gaining access to an overwhelming audience they typically wouldn’t receive in any other arena/broadcast, but the sales of their records are directly correlated with the event. Each of the past artists who has headlined a Super Bowl Halftime performance has seen a dramatic spike in their record sales on the week of and after the event.
It’s no wonder headlining artists like Coldplay are pulling out all the tricks for the performance and why fellow musicians like Beyonce agree to jump on board when asked to take part in the event.
Last year’s Super Bowl performance gained the highest audience in halftime show history with 118 million viewers. The show was headlined by Katy Perry and included a mesmerizing cameo by 90’s hip-hop icon Missy Elliot that was somewhat overshadowed by the moves of a “Left Shark.”
Okay, so @Beyonce back at the #SuperBowl is nothing to complain about, but we’re hoping someone else will return… pic.twitter.com/BPADglxSc8
— Steiner Sports (@steinersports) January 7, 2016
Previous halftime headliners include musical icons Prince, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, U2, and the Rolling Stones.
(Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)