Over the course of the Super Bowl’s 50-year history, the half-time entertainment performance has seen many different adaptations. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the biggest names in music started moving in on the marching bands territory. They had been performing since the Super Bowl’s inception, according to The Washington Post.
By the 90s, marching bands were mostly a thing of the past. In the last 20+ years, there have been memorable performances by Michael Jackson – who made more people tune into his performance than the actual game – and his sister, Janet Jackson, who ushered in an era of conservative performers after her wardrobe malfunction.
Gloria Estefan may not have had as much cultural impact as the Jacksons at the Super Bowl, but she did perform twice in the 90s.
Her first performance came in 1992, but it wasn’t very well received. “Upstart network Fox made a cheeky move that upped the ante for all future halftime shows,” the Washington Post reported. “It flouted conventional wisdom and aired a live episode of edgy sketch comedy In Living Color opposite CBS’s Super Bowl halftime show. A snow-themed production starring Gloria Estefan and the two Olympic ice skaters were no match, and the game broadcast lost 10 ratings points.”
Also, I’d like to point out that as a Cuban-American from Miami, Gloria Estefan didn’t even understand winter.
By 1999, she was back at it. This time she joined a tap dancing Stevie Wonder, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and dancer Savion Glover.