The Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show, known through corporate sponsorship as the E-Trade Super Bowl XXXVI Halftime Show, was the halftime entertainment of Super Bowl XXXVI, which took place on February 3, 2002, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. It featured Irish rock band U2 as the performer. Using a heart-shaped stage replicated from their 2001 Elevation Tour, the group played three songs and paid tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, which had occurred in the United States five months earlier. The show was produced by Clear Channel Entertainment, which also produced the band's Elevation Tour. The Super Bowl and its halftime show were televised nationally in the U.S. by Fox.
Singer Janet Jackson was originally booked as the halftime performer, but after the September 11 attacks, it was decided that a different artist would be needed to set the appropriate tone. U2 were selected as the replacement after several executives from the National Football League (NFL) attended one of their October 2001 concerts in New York City and were emotionally impacted by the band's tribute to the attack victims, whose names were projected across the ceiling of Madison Square Garden. During their halftime performance, the band played their 2000 hit single "Beautiful Day", the 1984 song "MLK", and their 1987 hit single "Where the Streets Have No Name". During the latter two songs, U2's tribute to the September 11 victims was reprised, as their names were projected onto a vertical scrim behind the stage and across the interior of the Superdome. At the end of the performance, lead singer Bono opened his jacket to reveal an American flag in the lining.
The halftime show drew a 38.3 Nielsen rating and was watched by 82.9 million viewers in 40.2 million households in the US. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the band's performance and the poignancy of the 9/11 tribute. In the week following U2's performance, sales of their 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind increased in the US by 142 percent. In 2006, U2 returned to the Superdome as the entertainment for another NFL game, performing with Green Day for the New Orleans Saints' first home game since Hurricane Katrina. Many critics have ranked U2's performance at Super Bowl XXXVI among the top Super Bowl halftime shows.
Background
U2's 2000 studio album All That You Can't Leave Behind was commercially and critically successful. It debuted at number one in 32 countries and sold 10 million copies by December 2001. The record's lead single, "Beautiful Day", was a worldwide hit,McGee (2008), p. 220 and in February 2001 it won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. The band embarked on a concert tour, the Elevation Tour, in March 2001.McGee (2008), p. 228 The first two legs sold out all 83 concerts across North America and Europe, grossing US$105 million.
On September 10, 2001, Clear Channel Entertainment (CCE) and SFX Entertainment announced a third leg of the Elevation Tour, consisting of a return trip to North America. Tickets for the shows were scheduled to go on sale on September 15, but the day after the announcement, the September 11 attacks occurred in the United States;McGee (2008), p. 237 four passenger airliners were hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists and crashed in New York City and near Washington, D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people. CCE and SFX postponed ticket sales out of respect for the tragedy. Many artists cancelled tours of North America altogether in the wake of the attacks, but CCE and SFX announced on September 17 that the Elevation Tour would continue as planned and that tickets would go on sale for various shows starting September 21.
Following the attacks, All That You Can't Leave Behind found added resonance with American audiences,McCormick (2006), pp. 308–309 as the album climbed on the Billboard 200 chart and songs such as "Walk On" and "Peace on Earth" garnered radio airplay. Both tracks were performed during U2's appearance on the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon to benefit the attack victims. The Elevation Tour was the top-earning North American tour of 2001 with a gross of $109.7 million, the second-highest ever at the time for a North American tour. Globally, it grossed $143.5 million from 2.18 million tickets sold, making it the year's highest-grossing tour overall. U2 was named "Band of the Year" by the magazines Rolling Stone and Spin.
As a result of the September 11 attacks, the National Football League (NFL) postponed its games scheduled for that week until the end of the 2001 regular season. To allow the playoffs to be held in their entirety, in October the NFL rescheduled Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome from January 27 to February 3, 2002.
Booking Jim Steeg, the executive of special events for the NFL, booked the original entertainment lineup for Super Bowl XXXVI by August 2001. The billing would have featured performers from a diverse range of musical genres: Lionel Richie for "America the Beautiful", the Bee Gees and Creedence Clearwater Revival for a pregame performance, and Janet Jackson for the halftime show. However, after the September 11 attacks, Jackson cancelled the European leg of her All for You Tour and was not travelling, and she decided to pull out of the Super Bowl after realising her show would not fit the mood that was required.
NFL marketing executive John Collins was tasked with finding a replacement for the halftime show. On October 25, 2001, he attended a U2 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. During the band's performance of "One", a scrolling list of the names of the 9/11 victims appeared on screen. Collins witnessed fans becoming emotional at that moment, and realised U2 would make an ideal replacement for the halftime show. In a meeting the following day, Collins and two other league officials who had attended the concert discussed its poignancy and unanimously agreed with the idea of booking the group. NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said, "we certainly like the music, but we like the message that U2 carries, which is responsibility to others and a sense of freedom". Collins called Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Records and producer of U2's 1988 album Rattle and Hum, and pitched him on U2 recreating the same tribute at the Super Bowl. Iovine contacted the band's lead vocalist Bono and conveyed the NFL's proposal to him.
The following day, Bono met with several executives of the NFL, including Collins, Steeg, commissioner Paul Tagliabue, COO Roger Goodell, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Bono was enthusiastic about the prospect of being involved in a Super Bowl halftime show and proposed an extravagant show that would incorporate elements of world music. Many were skeptical of the idea, and the NFL debated for several days whether to book U2. Some argued against an Irish act paying tribute to the victims of an American tragedy, while a television executive mentioned that a past U2 television special had drawn low ratings. Goodell was immediately on board with the idea of booking the band, and while Tagliabue was initially uncertain, he ultimately came around and decided to book them. Greg Hagglund, vice president and executive producer of CCE, met with U2 in Las Vegas during a stop on their Elevation Tour to have a brainstorming session about the show. He said that Bono "had such a grasp of what he wanted and what we and the NFL felt was appropriate".
On November 27, 2001, it was reported that E-Trade had reached an agreement with the NFL to sponsor the halftime show for the third consecutive year. The deal was reportedly worth more than US$3 million. On November 30, the NFL announced that CCE had been selected to produce the halftime show, and on December 2, the league announced that U2 would perform. Super Bowl XXXVI marked the first time that CCE was involved in a Super Bowl halftime show; most of the previous halftime shows had been produced by the television networks, with the exception of Super Bowl XXXV's show in 2001 that was produced by MTV. U2 were the first international act to be the sole performer for a Super Bowl halftime show. McCarthy said: "we were looking for a band that would help capture and lift the spirit of America and the world. With U2 we found what we were looking for." Regarding the show's content, he added: "This year, we're looking to make it more relevant and meaningful, rather than dropping a rock concert in the middle of a football game. We're looking to provide entertainment that's memorable and inspiring." U2's booking was in line with the NFL recasting the Super Bowl entertainment under the theme "Heroes, Hope, and Homeland". McCarthy said, "With the events of September 11th, we've redefined and refocused the game presentation, and the theme is celebration and the human spirit and the values of freedom, and also to everyday heroes".
U2 and other musical acts at the Super Bowl were unpaid for their performances, as the NFL covered only travel expenses and accommodations in New Orleans. An NFL insider said, "We would have paid U2, but they didn't want any money."
Promotion An NFL representative said one factor in the league's decision to select CCE to produce the halftime show was its ability to use its vast media holdings, which included 1,200 radio stations, to promote the event. To increase interest in the Super Bowl in the weeks preceding it, NFL Films re-shot the music videos for U2's songs "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" and "Beautiful Day" to include football footage. The NFL and Fox both used the band's songs in television commercials advertising the 2001–02 NFL playoffs. Collins said that the league's and Interscope Records' objective was "to help make U2 synonymous with the NFL".
America Online held a sweepstake contest to award a Super Bowl XXXVI trip package to one of its members and a guest. The package included access to the inside of U2's heart-shaped stage during their halftime performance.
In a counterprogramming move against the halftime show, on December 17, 2001, NBC announced it would air an episode of Fear Factor featuring Playboy Playmates at the same time that Fox would broadcast the halftime show.
Preparations and rehearsals
A few weeks before the game, a major production issue arose when organizers discovered they were unable to power the projectors that would scroll the victims' names across the domed ceiling of the Superdome. Collins was irate and demanded organizers resolve the problem, stating, "The only reason Paul Tagliabue approved this was because of the names going across the roof." A generator was ultimately located, allowing the projection to proceed. Around January 21, 2002, production crews arrived at Tad Gormley Stadium at the University of New Orleans to work on the logistical aspects of the halftime show, particularly the process of building and disassembling the stage on the field in the mandated amount of time. After arriving in New Orleans on January 30, the band rehearsed in the Superdome and participated in a 20-minute press conference that day. During rehearsals, it was debated whether to project the victims' names onto a scrim behind the stage or not;McGee (2008), pp. 243–245 the projection was not powerful enough to be seen across the ceiling. Ultimately, the scrim was adopted, but to some, the effect did not look good. After the Friday rehearsal just two days before the Super Bowl, one NFL executive remained cynical about the show's prospects, saying, "This is going to be the worst halftime show ever."
Show production