Early Super Bowls featured a halftime show consisting of marching bands from local colleges or high schools ; but as the popularity of the game increased , a trend where popular singers and musicians performed during its pre-game ceremonies and the halftime show , or simply sang the national anthem of the United States or America the Beautiful emerged . Unlike regular season or playoff games , thirty minutes are allocated for the Super Bowl halftime . After a special live episode of the Fox sketch comedy series '' In Living Color '' caused a drop in viewership for the Super Bowl XXVI halftime show , the NFL sought to increase the Super Bowl 's audience by hiring A-list talent to perform . They approached Michael Jackson , whose performance the following year drew higher figures than the game itself . Another notable performance came during Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 , when U2 performed ; during their third song , " Where the Streets Have No Name " , the band played under a large projection screen which scrolled through names of the victims of the September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Super Bowl