Maroon 5 to headline 2019 Super Bowl halftime show
Rappers Travis Scott, Big Boi will appear as special guests during Feb. 3 performance
After months of speculation, Maroon 5, known for hits such as This Love and Moves Like Jagger, has confirmed it will headline the Super Bowl halftime show Feb. 3 in Atlanta, Ga.
The pop band posted a one-minute video on Twitter with the caption #SBLIII. It showed concert footage of the group and included scenes with rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi, who will appear as special guests during the high-profile performance.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SBLIII?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SBLIII</a> <a href="https://t.co/dWKJQDS9ap">pic.twitter.com/dWKJQDS9ap</a>
—@maroon5Scott's Sicko Mode is up for best rap performance and best rap song at this year's Grammy Awards. Big Boi, who's from Atlanta, is best known as one half of the Grammy-winning hip hop duo Outkast.
The announcement, which was also shared by CBS Sports, the network broadcasting the event, comes after rumours began circulating late last year that Maroon 5 would take the stage.
Multiple reports suggested the band was having a tough time finding guests to perform with them in light of the NFL's treatment of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. An online petition began circulating asking Maroon 5 to drop out of the performance. In October, comedian Amy Schumer also called on the band to pull out.
Black Panther's Michael B. Jordan told Vibe magazine in December he hoped Travis Scott, also rumoured as a performer at the time, wouldn't participate for the same reason.
Kaepernick, who led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2013, is arguing that owners have conspired to keep him off any NFL team since he became a free agent in 2017 because of his decision to take a knee during the American anthem in protest of social injustice.
Perhaps in an effort to counter criticism, Scott says he has made a $500,000 US donation with the NFL to the social justice non-profit Dream Corps, a social justice organization founded by TV journalist Van Jones.
Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, who is also a host on the NBC musical reality show The Voice, had remained tight-lipped on the rumours of a halftime gig during interviews before the news became official. Maroon 5's appearance will follow Justin Timberlake's unexceptional performance last year and Lady Gaga's standout showcase the year before that.