Stones Roll to Super Bowl
The British have always been better at that whole propriety thing.
Maybe that’s why, for the second post-Janet year in a row, the NFL has chosen across-the-Pond entertainers to headline TV’s most watched event of the year.
The Rolling Stones have been tapped to headline the Super Bowl XL Halftime Show, it was announced Tuesday by the NFL and ABC, which is broadcasting the big game Feb. 5 at Detroit’s Ford Field.
“We are thrilled to perform for millions of fans at one of the most exciting and highly anticipated sporting events of the year,” the band says in a statement.
The sentiment was echoed by the Super Bowl brain trust.
“We are excited to welcome one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands in history to the Super Bowl,” says Steve Bornstein, the NFL’s executive vice president of media, and the man in charge of the event. “As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl this season, it is fitting we work with the Rolling Stones whose music has thrilled audiences around the world for years.”
The performance will cap the Stones’ season-long promotional deal with the NFL and ABC. The band had earlier created multiple segments and intros for the entire 2005-06 season of Monday Night Football.
Sir Mick and his mates will follow in the footsteps of fellow knight Paul McCartney. The ex-Beatle’s halftime extravaganza, though watched in part by more than 133 million viewers in the U.S., generated more headlines for its lack of headline- (and breast-) grabbing theatrics than for its entertainment value.
The NFL went with the decidedly uncontroversial McCartney as part of the damage control from the previous year’s highly scrutinized, fine-inducing, wardrobe-malfunctioning Janet Jackson show.
News of their Super Bowl duties marked the second big announcement of the day for the Stones, who earlier revealed plans for a European summer tour, kicking off May 27 in Barcelona.
The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang tour is set to hit more than 20 countries in 30 days, and like its North American counterpart, several hundred audience seats are expected to be built into the stage for each performance.
The seemingly unstoppable group just released Rarities: 1971-2003, a collection of hard-to-find B-sides, live recordings and remixes jointly put out by Virgin Records and Starbucks’ Hear Music. The Stones’ also recently made available a limited edition version of their current album, A Bigger Bang, with expanded audio and video content.
Meanwhile, the band continues on the North American leg of its latest road show, which runs through Dec. 3 in Memphis.
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