Dr Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, more stars perform at Super Bowl 2022 Halftime Show
Feb 14, 2022
Washington [US], February 14 : For this year's Super Bowl halftime show, celebs including Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg took the stage as the Los Angeles Rams faced off against the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium.
According to People magazine, as the show commenced, the SoFi field was covered with what appeared to be the Los Angeles city grid and a row of white buildings.
Snoop Dogg and Dre kicked things off together with their song 'The Next Episode' after which they segued into Dre and Tupac Shakur's 'California Love'.
Next to join the party in a surprise appearance was 50 Cent, who literally started off upside down to perform 'In Da Club' with a bevy of female dancers in a faux party scene.
Following that Blige entered, wearing all white and sequins and accompanied by sparkling backup dancers, who later disappeared while she sang 'No More Drama' solo.
Lamar, surrounded by men in black suits with bleached hair and wearing sashes reading 'Dre Day', performed his hit 'Alright' in front of the stage set-up. Eminem then took things back up top again, performing his Grammy and Oscar-winning song 'Lose Yourself'.
Eventually, Dre sat down at the piano, playing the iconic first notes of his hit 'Still Dre'. All the performers then gathered together on the top of the centre building structure to close out the epic show.
Deaf rappers Sean Forbes and Warren 'WaWa' Snipe performed American Sign Language renditions of each of the songs, marking the first time that NFL incorporated sign language performances as part of the halftime show.
Dre, who was the show's headline performer, ahead of the performance said that it would be "one of the biggest thrills of my career."
"I'm extremely excited to share the stage with my friends for the #PepsiHalftime Show. This will introduce the next saga of my career... Bigger and Better than Ever!!!" Dre captioned a photo of the group in September.
Eminem had revealed that he was heading into the performance feeling quite nervous. "I'mma tell you, it's f--ing nerve-wracking. It's f--ing nerve-wracking. This to me... there's nothing more final than live TV. So, if you f-- up, your f-- up is there forever," the rapper, said on SiriusXM's 'Sway in the Morning'.
Though the 'Lose Yourself' rapper remained tight-lipped on a possible setlist, he said he was "blown away" by Dr. Dre's vision for the show, as well as the "top tier" lyrics of Lamar.
Meanwhile, Blige had no qualms about being the sole female performer at this year's Super Bowl Halftime Show, in fact, she embraced it. "I love it," she told People magazine when asked how she feels about being the only woman in the lineup.
She continued, "I love the fact that I'm respected by my male peers like that, I've always been. I've never had a problem with any of my male peers."
However, the night wasn't without its share of controversy, as just days before the performance, Snoop Dogg was accused of sexual assault and battery in a lawsuit filed. The rapper has denied the allegations, calling the lawsuit "a shakedown," as per People magazine.