Super Bowl LIII: Maroon 5 play it safe during halftime show
Adam Levine led Maroon 5 through its nearly two decades of hits on Sunday night during the Pepsi Halftime Show at Super Bowl LIII.
The singer kicked off the spirited-yet-safe performance with "Harder To Breathe" and "This Love" before the screen cut to Squidward and Spongebob Squarepants, who introduced Travis Scott. Scott, whose lyrics had to be bleeped out multiple times, was joined by Levine as they performed together during a couple of Scott's hits before Maroon 5 took center stage again with the band's latest hit, "Girls Like You."
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Notably, Cardi B -- who had previously said that she turned down an offer to perform at the halftime show -- didn't join Levine to perform the song, which she has a featured verse on. She was in Atlanta and stars in Pepsi's Super Bowl commercial this year. Instead, a gospel choir joined Levine for the song.
Levine then sang "She Will Be Loved" as lanterns in the sky spelled out "L O V E" above the stadium. Big Boi from Outkast then took the stage after driving onto the field to perform "The Way You Move."
See photos from the performance:
The halftime show ended with two of Maroon 5's biggest hits ever back-to-back: "Sugar" and "Moves Like Jagger," during which Levine ripped off his patterned tank top to show off his famously tattooed torso. On Twitter, people had a lot to say about his fashion choices.
Overall, it was a relatively safe performance in comparison to previous, grander shows put on by the likes of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Beyoncé in years past. The band likely didn't want to ruffle many feathers after causing a stir for taking the gig in the first place.
This year's halftime show sparked controversy before Maroon 5 was even named as the headliner, with many artists turning down the biggest gig in music in support of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick or to avoid blowback for seemingly not supporting him by agreeing to perform at all.
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Levine defended his band's decision to perform in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight this week, saying that "no one thought about it more than [he] did."
"No one put more thought and love into this than I did. ... I spoke to many people, most importantly though, I silenced all the noise and listened to myself, and made my decision about how I felt," he explained, before adding that her "absolutely 100 percent" took a hard look at himself before ultimately deciding to take the offer. "I will never sit here and deny that. I think that to have not done that would have been deeply irresponsible."
Days ahead of the Super Bowl, Maroon 5 and Interscope Records donated $500,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, which helps youth build towards their futures.
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