Date | February 7, 2016 | |||
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Location | Santa Clara, California | |||
Venue | Levi's Stadium | |||
Headliner | Coldplay | |||
Special guests | ||||
Sponsor | Pepsi | |||
Director | Hamish Hamilton | |||
Producer | Ricky Kirshner | |||
Super Bowl halftime show chronology | ||||
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The Super Bowl 50 halftime show took place on February 7, 2016, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara as part of Super Bowl 50. It was headlined by the British rock band Coldplay,[1] who called Beyoncé, Gustavo Dudamel, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, the University of California Marching Band and the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles as guests.[2] With over 115.5 million viewers, it was the most watched halftime set by a group. The band also charted all of their albums on the Billboard 200 afterwards.
Beyoncé's appearance was controversial for performing "Formation", a song regarded by some as an alignment with the Black Lives Matter movement, while others claim it has anti-police and anti-American messages that should be boycotted. Conservatives accused Coldplay of promoting a "gay agenda" as well. Despite its mixed reception from music critics on contemporary reviews, the show has been since ranked as one of the best in Super Bowl history by The Athletic, Parade, Rolling Stone and The Telegraph.