Beyonce Sings National Anthem Live at Super Bowl Press Conference

Beyonce Sings National Anthem Live at Super Bowl Press Conference'Any questions?' pop star says with a laugh $(document).ready(function() { $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .email-content').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').hide(); } ); $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .print-page').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').hide(); } ); }); By

Beyoncé opened a Super Bowl press conference on Thursday afternoon in New Orleans with a rousing rendition of the national anthem – and this time it was definitely live. After a rapturous round of applause by the media in attendance, the singer took questions about her upcoming Super Bowl gig as well as her controversial lip-syncing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Obama's second inauguration last week.

"I am a perfectionist. One thing about me, I practice until my feet bleed, and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," Beyoncé said. "It was a live television show and a very, very important, emotional show for me – one of my proudest moments. Due to the weather, due to the delay, due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about my president and the inauguration, and I did not want to take away from that. I decided to go with a pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I am very proud of my performance."

Readers' Poll: The Greatest Super Bowl Halftime Shows

Beyoncé added that she will be "absolutely singing live" at her Super Bowl performance this coming Sunday. "I am well rehearsed. I will absolutely be singing live. This is what I was born to do." 

She stayed mum on the details of her halftime show performance, particularly whether she would be joined by Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for a Destiny's Child reunion. "I can't really give you any details, I'm sorry," she said, though she did comment on the recent release of "Nuclear," Destiny's Child's first song in eight years. "I was so excited to hear us together again. I just kind of dropped on the floor and felt like a little teenager again when I heard us harmonize. There's nothing like the sisterhood we have."

Asked whether she has any plans to tour in conjuction with her new album on the horizon, Beyoncé teased: "Soon. I may have an announcement after the [Super Bowl] performance and the fans should just stay tuned."

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Jennifer Hudson to Sing with Sandy Hook Chorus Before Super Bowl

Jennifer Hudson in Toronto, Canada.

Jennifer Hudson will join a chorus from Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing "America the Beautiful" before the Super Bowl in New Orleans Sunday, The Associated Press reports. Hudson will sing alongside 26 children from the school in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 first-graders and six adults were killed in a mass shooting on December 14th. The performance will air live as part of the pre-game show.

Photos: A Song From Sandy Hook

Super Bowl XLVII will air this Sunday on CBS. Alicia Keys will sing the national anthem, and Beyoncé is set to perform the halftime show, which will include a Destiny's Child reunion. 

The surviving children of the Newtown shooting also recorded a version of "Over the Rainbow" to support the United Way of Western Connecticut and Newtown Youth Academy charities. They linked up with singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, and recorded at the home studio of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club.

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Beyonce Sings National Anthem Live at Super Bowl Press Conference

Beyonce Sings National Anthem Live at Super Bowl Press Conference'Any questions?' pop star says with a laugh $(document).ready(function() { $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .email-content').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').hide(); } ); $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .print-page').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').hide(); } ); }); By

Beyoncé opened a Super Bowl press conference on Thursday afternoon in New Orleans with a rousing rendition of the national anthem – and this time it was definitely live. After a rapturous round of applause by the media in attendance, the singer took questions about her upcoming Super Bowl gig as well as her controversial lip-syncing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Obama's second inauguration last week.

"I am a perfectionist. One thing about me, I practice until my feet bleed, and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," Beyoncé said. "It was a live television show and a very, very important, emotional show for me – one of my proudest moments. Due to the weather, due to the delay, due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about my president and the inauguration, and I did not want to take away from that. I decided to go with a pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I am very proud of my performance."

Readers' Poll: The Greatest Super Bowl Halftime Shows

Beyoncé added that she will be "absolutely singing live" at her Super Bowl performance this coming Sunday. "I am well rehearsed. I will absolutely be singing live. This is what I was born to do." 

She stayed mum on the details of her halftime show performance, particularly whether she would be joined by Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for a Destiny's Child reunion. "I can't really give you any details, I'm sorry," she said, though she did comment on the recent release of "Nuclear," Destiny's Child's first song in eight years. "I was so excited to hear us together again. I just kind of dropped on the floor and felt like a little teenager again when I heard us harmonize. There's nothing like the sisterhood we have."

Asked whether she has any plans to tour in conjuction with her new album on the horizon, Beyoncé teased: "Soon. I may have an announcement after the [Super Bowl] performance and the fans should just stay tuned."

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Jennifer Hudson to Sing with Sandy Hook Chorus Before Super Bowl

Jennifer Hudson in Toronto, Canada.

Jennifer Hudson will join a chorus from Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing "America the Beautiful" before the Super Bowl in New Orleans Sunday, The Associated Press reports. Hudson will sing alongside 26 children from the school in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 first-graders and six adults were killed in a mass shooting on December 14th. The performance will air live as part of the pre-game show.

Photos: A Song From Sandy Hook

Super Bowl XLVII will air this Sunday on CBS. Alicia Keys will sing the national anthem, and Beyoncé is set to perform the halftime show, which will include a Destiny's Child reunion. 

The surviving children of the Newtown shooting also recorded a version of "Over the Rainbow" to support the United Way of Western Connecticut and Newtown Youth Academy charities. They linked up with singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, and recorded at the home studio of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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The Flaming Lips Land New Song in Super Bowl Ad

The Flaming Lips Land New Song in Super Bowl AdBand writes 'Sun Blows Up Today' for a Hyundai commercial $(document).ready(function() { $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .email-content').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').hide(); } ); $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .print-page').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').hide(); } ); }); By

The Flaming Lips are one-upping fun., the Lumineers, Phillip Phillips and other acts who've boosted new singles with prominent TV commercials over the past year by writing an original song, "Sun Blows Up Today," for a Hyundai commercial set to air during the Super Bowl.

The 60-second spot stars gray-suited, bushy-haired frontman Wayne Coyne and the band eating breakfast with a bored family before leading them on a journey featuring ostriches, bikers, a garage-roof concert and, of course, a ride in a giant bubble.

The Flaming Lips Light Up New York

"It's just a fantastic opportunity," says Lori Feldman, senior vice president of brand partnerships for Warner Bros. Records, which will release the band's The Terror April 2nd, with "Sun Blows Up Today" as an iTunes bonus track. "The point here is a band like the Flaming Lips, who are really one of the greatest-kept cult secrets in the world of rock music, are going to have a truly massive audience as they head back into a new album cycle."

Last year's Super Bowl reached an audience of about 111 million people, and 30-second ads cost roughly $4 million, so the Lips stand to gain crucial exposure (and anywhere from $100,000 to more than $1 million, according to Billboard estimates) at a time of diminished album sales for almost every kind of rock band. Last year, fun.'s "We Are Young" aired in a distinctive Chevy Sonic ad during the Super Bowl, and while the song had already been on Glee, it quickly shot into the Top 10, then sold almost six million singles in 2012, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

"We thought we could bring in a little money, the record company would bring in a little money they could use to market the record and we could make a little publishing money to fund other things," says Dalton Sim, manager for fun. "You can't write these things into a marketing plan. We got lucky that the music and the ad lined up and connected with people and it worked so well."

"It's part of the new music business," adds Christen Greene, co-manager of the Lumineers, who used a Bing ad last year to help break "Ho Hey." "Ten years ago, people would call it selling out pretty hard. Now it's more powerful than radio."

The Lips' Hyundai connection came together when the car company's agency, Innocean, approached the band for its Santa Fe SUV spot. The ad people are fans of the Lips, and when the timing worked out, the band, company and record label began to work together. (Hyundai.com will give away 100,000 downloads of the song.) "It was really a painless experience," Lips multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd says. "We went back and forth with them on the song, but it was pretty effortless, then we went out to L.A. for two days to shoot the commercial."

"It feels like a true partnership," Warner Bros.' Feldman says.

Super Bowl ads have showcased music for years, of course: a gospel choir performed Eminem's "Lose Yourself" for Chrysler in 2011, and last year's ads starred songs by Kanye West, James Brown, the Animals and Echo and the Bunnymen. The Lips' spot is different because it involves a new song, although it debuted on rollingstone.com last week. The plan is potentially risky. "Just having a song on a commercial doesn't mean it's going to become a hit on radio or sell singles," says Bob McLynn, manager of Travie McCoy, who recently wrote "All In" as an anthem for the New York Giants and Pepsi. "You've got to make sure the stuff is right as far as it being the right treatment."

Drozd says the band mostly hopes to attract viewers' attention. "I would imagine there'd be some residual curiosity of people saying, 'Hey, what was that, maybe I should check that out,' and maybe they’ll Google us and see a little bit about us," he says.

Well-known artists occasionally write new songs for TV ads – Grizzly Bear did it in 2010 for the Washington State Lottery and They Might Be Giants wrote several songs for Dunkin' Donuts in 2006. It's far more common for a record label to try to break an existing song with the help of a TV commercial, asAmerican Idol winner Phillip Phillips did last year when "Home" appeared in an American Family Insurance spot. In addition to the exposure, such advertising deals can change an artist's financial fortunes.

"It's why I do what I do," says Todd Porter, music supervisor at Goodby Silverstein, which worked on fun.'s Chevy spot last year. "I got into this by seeing directly how licensing can help out my friends' bands. They would turn to me and go, 'Wow, we can go on tour now. We just paid for our recording studio.' That's what it's about for me."

Additional reporting by Eric R. Danton

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The Flaming Lips Land New Song in Super Bowl Ad

The Flaming Lips Land New Song in Super Bowl AdBand writes 'Sun Blows Up Today' for a Hyundai commercial $(document).ready(function() { $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .email-content').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').hide(); } ); $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .print-page').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').hide(); } ); }); By

The Flaming Lips are one-upping fun., the Lumineers, Phillip Phillips and other acts who've boosted new singles with prominent TV commercials over the past year by writing an original song, "Sun Blows Up Today," for a Hyundai commercial set to air during the Super Bowl.

The 60-second spot stars gray-suited, bushy-haired frontman Wayne Coyne and the band eating breakfast with a bored family before leading them on a journey featuring ostriches, bikers, a garage-roof concert and, of course, a ride in a giant bubble.

The Flaming Lips Light Up New York

"It's just a fantastic opportunity," says Lori Feldman, senior vice president of brand partnerships for Warner Bros. Records, which will release the band's The Terror April 2nd, with "Sun Blows Up Today" as an iTunes bonus track. "The point here is a band like the Flaming Lips, who are really one of the greatest-kept cult secrets in the world of rock music, are going to have a truly massive audience as they head back into a new album cycle."

Last year's Super Bowl reached an audience of about 111 million people, and 30-second ads cost roughly $4 million, so the Lips stand to gain crucial exposure (and anywhere from $100,000 to more than $1 million, according to Billboard estimates) at a time of diminished album sales for almost every kind of rock band. Last year, fun.'s "We Are Young" aired in a distinctive Chevy Sonic ad during the Super Bowl, and while the song had already been on Glee, it quickly shot into the Top 10, then sold almost six million singles in 2012, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

"We thought we could bring in a little money, the record company would bring in a little money they could use to market the record and we could make a little publishing money to fund other things," says Dalton Sim, manager for fun. "You can't write these things into a marketing plan. We got lucky that the music and the ad lined up and connected with people and it worked so well."

"It's part of the new music business," adds Christen Greene, co-manager of the Lumineers, who used a Bing ad last year to help break "Ho Hey." "Ten years ago, people would call it selling out pretty hard. Now it's more powerful than radio."

The Lips' Hyundai connection came together when the car company's agency, Innocean, approached the band for its Santa Fe SUV spot. The ad people are fans of the Lips, and when the timing worked out, the band, company and record label began to work together. (Hyundai.com will give away 100,000 downloads of the song.) "It was really a painless experience," Lips multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd says. "We went back and forth with them on the song, but it was pretty effortless, then we went out to L.A. for two days to shoot the commercial."

"It feels like a true partnership," Warner Bros.' Feldman says.

Super Bowl ads have showcased music for years, of course: a gospel choir performed Eminem's "Lose Yourself" for Chrysler in 2011, and last year's ads starred songs by Kanye West, James Brown, the Animals and Echo and the Bunnymen. The Lips' spot is different because it involves a new song, although it debuted on rollingstone.com last week. The plan is potentially risky. "Just having a song on a commercial doesn't mean it's going to become a hit on radio or sell singles," says Bob McLynn, manager of Travie McCoy, who recently wrote "All In" as an anthem for the New York Giants and Pepsi. "You've got to make sure the stuff is right as far as it being the right treatment."

Drozd says the band mostly hopes to attract viewers' attention. "I would imagine there'd be some residual curiosity of people saying, 'Hey, what was that, maybe I should check that out,' and maybe they’ll Google us and see a little bit about us," he says.

Well-known artists occasionally write new songs for TV ads – Grizzly Bear did it in 2010 for the Washington State Lottery and They Might Be Giants wrote several songs for Dunkin' Donuts in 2006. It's far more common for a record label to try to break an existing song with the help of a TV commercial, asAmerican Idol winner Phillip Phillips did last year when "Home" appeared in an American Family Insurance spot. In addition to the exposure, such advertising deals can change an artist's financial fortunes.

"It's why I do what I do," says Todd Porter, music supervisor at Goodby Silverstein, which worked on fun.'s Chevy spot last year. "I got into this by seeing directly how licensing can help out my friends' bands. They would turn to me and go, 'Wow, we can go on tour now. We just paid for our recording studio.' That's what it's about for me."

Additional reporting by Eric R. Danton

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Weekend Rock Question: What Is the Greatest Super Bowl Halftime Show?

Madonna, Prince, Bruce SpringsteenKevin Mazur/WireImage; ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/WireImage

We're just two weeks away from the Super Bowl. Football is fine and dandy, but our main interest here is Beyonce's halftime show. What songs will she perform during the Destiny's Child reunion set? Will she truly sing live? Will Jay-Z come out during "Crazy in Love?"

Now we have a question for you: what is your favorite Super Bowl halftime show of all time? There's no need to stick to Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen or other acts from recent years. You can go all the way back to the University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band in 1967 or Up With People in 1980. There was even an Indiana Jones skit in 1995. Anything is fair game, but please only vote once and only for a single performance. 

You can vote here in the comments, on facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter using the #weekend rock hashtag. 

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Weekend Rock Question: What Is the Greatest Super Bowl Halftime Show?

Madonna, Prince, Bruce SpringsteenKevin Mazur/WireImage; ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/WireImage

We're just two weeks away from the Super Bowl. Football is fine and dandy, but our main interest here is Beyonce's halftime show. What songs will she perform during the Destiny's Child reunion set? Will she truly sing live? Will Jay-Z come out during "Crazy in Love?"

Now we have a question for you: what is your favorite Super Bowl halftime show of all time? There's no need to stick to Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen or other acts from recent years. You can go all the way back to the University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band in 1967 or Up With People in 1980. There was even an Indiana Jones skit in 1995. Anything is fair game, but please only vote once and only for a single performance. 

You can vote here in the comments, on facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter using the #weekend rock hashtag. 

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Beyonce Super Bowl Set List Details Emerge

Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

New details have emerged about what songs Beyoncé will perform during the halftime show at this year's Super Bowl, with Us Weekly reporting that the singer will open a solo set with "Crazy in Love" before Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland join her for a Destiny's Child reunion.

The three will perform a medley of some of their biggest hits, including "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Survivor," before ending with "Nuclear," a new track appearing on the upcoming compilation Love Songs. Beyoncé is said to be closing the show with the premiere of a track from her next album.

From the Archives: Destiny's Child Grow Up (2004)

The singer appeared earlier this week at President Obama's second inauguration, where she created a furor by apparently lip-syncing the national anthem to a version of the song she recorded with the Marine Band the weekend before the swearing-in. 

Destiny's Child released five studio albums in an on-again, off-again career dating back to 1990. Beyoncé's next album, which is expected sometime this year, will be her fifth solo release.

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Daryl Hall and John Oates Kill Hall and Oates Fan Super PAC

Late last week the political world learned that Hall and Oates fans had created their own Super PAC with the aim of damaging the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. "We just figure that America needs more Hall and Oates," the group's co-founder William Hansmann told Rolling Stone. "We started this as a joke, but then it kind of blew up. I assume they've caught wind of it."

Indeed, Daryl Hall and John Oates had caught wind of Hall and Oates Fans For America – and they weren't happy about it. Their people have asked organizers to dissolve the Super PAC. Halls and Oates Fans for America didn't put up a fight. Here is the complete statement from Hall and Oates manager Jonathan Wolfson:

"Representatives of Daryl Hall and John Oates have been in contact with the founders of the Hall and Oates Fans For America Super PAC and are pleased to report that the group's concerns regarding the unauthorized use of their names for fundraising purposes by the Super PAC have been amicably resolved and that the Super PAC is being dissolved by the founders. The spokesperson for the founders advised that no funds have been raised by the PAC.

"Daryl Hall and John Oates recognize that the personal view points of their fans cross all political spectrums and are honored to be supported by their fans everywhere regardless of political affiliation. The PAC’s founders recognize that the use of the “Hall” and “Oates” names for the purpose of raising funds is not an appropriate fan activity no matter what the goal of the fund raising activities might be.

"Daryl Hall and John Oates are pleased that the amicable dialog with the founders of the Super PAC have brought an expedient resolution to this matter and achieve a result both sides are pleased with."

During its brief lifespan, Hall and Oates Fans For America had no website, Facebook page or any means to accept donations. A Twitter account was quickly suspended for unknown reasons. Basically, all they did was fax in a form to the Federal Election Commission. There were plans to create a series of Romney-mocking videos – possibly using songs such as "Out of Touch" or "I Can't Go For That" – but presumably those plans have been set aside.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Daryl Hall and John Oates Kill Hall and Oates Fan Super PAC

Late last week the political world learned that Hall and Oates fans had created their own Super PAC with the aim of damaging the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. "We just figure that America needs more Hall and Oates," the group's co-founder William Hansmann told Rolling Stone. "We started this as a joke, but then it kind of blew up. I assume they've caught wind of it."

Indeed, Daryl Hall and John Oates had caught wind of Hall and Oates Fans For America – and they weren't happy about it. Their people have asked organizders to dissolve the Super PAC. Halls and Oates Fans for America didn't put up a fight. Here is the complete statement from Hall and Oates manager Jonathan Wolfson:

"Representatives of Daryl Hall and John Oates have been in contact with the founders of the Hall and Oates Fans For America Super PAC and are pleased to report that the group's concerns regarding the unauthorized use of their names for fundraising purposes by the Super PAC have been amicably resolved and that the Super PAC is being dissolved by the founders. The spokesperson for the founders advised that no funds have been raised by the PAC.

"Daryl Hall and John Oates recognize that the personal view points of their fans cross all political spectrums and are honored to be supported by their fans everywhere regardless of political affiliation. The PAC’s founders recognize that the use of the “Hall” and “Oates” names for the purpose of raising funds is not an appropriate fan activity no matter what the goal of the fund raising activities might be.

"Daryl Hall and John Oates are pleased that the amicable dialog with the founders of the Super PAC have brought an expedient resolution to this matter and achieve a result both sides are pleased with."

During its brief lifespan, Hall and Oates Fans For America had no website, Facebook page or any means to accept donations. A Twitter account was quickly suspended for unknown reasons. Basically, all they did was fax in a form to the Federal Election Commission. There were plans to create a series of Romney-mocking videos – possibly using songs such as "Out of Touch" or "I Can't Go For That" – but presumably those plans have been set aside.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Hall and Oates Fans Start Anti-Romney Super PAC

Two Hall and Oates fans have formed the Hall and Oates Fans for America Super PAC, reports The Atlantic. Billy Hansmann and Anthony Schuch from Atlanta, Georgia, plan to use any funds donated to the group to create videos against Republican presidential ticket Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

"I find it really unfortunate that Republicans tend to play such hardball and with very little response from the Democratic side," said Hansmann, who notes that he is a Libertarian and is unhappy with the Republican Party. "Why with the exception of a couple comics out there are people not going after some of these guys?"

Comic Stephen Colbert formed his own light-hearted Super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow Inc., earlier this year.

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The Smiths Meet Nintendo in 'Super Morrissey Bros.'

Sourced from lazyitis/soundcloud.com

It's sort of amazing that it took this long for some clever person to mash up the Smiths and Super Mario Bros. as Super Morrissey Bros., but it was certainly worth the wait. This Chiptune cover of the Smiths' classic "This Charming Man" is rendered in the style of the original Super Mario Bros. soundtrack and includes sound effects from the original game. It's simple, perfect and remarkably true to the spirit of the song. Listen below!

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The Smiths Meet Nintendo in 'Super Morrissey Bros.'

Sourced from lazyitis/soundcloud.com

It's sort of amazing that it took this long for some clever person to mash up the Smiths and Super Mario Bros. as Super Morrissey Bros., but it was certainly worth the wait. This Chiptune cover of the Smiths' classic "This Charming Man" is rendered in the style of the original Super Mario Bros. soundtrack and includes sound effects from the original game. It's simple, perfect and remarkably true to the spirit of the song. Listen below!

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M.I.A. May Be Fined for Middle Finger at Super Bowl

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Madonna’s Glittering Super Bowl Spectacle

Madonna performs during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Madonna packed some serious spectacle into her twelve-minute halftime show for Super Bowl XLVI. Ushered in on a golden chariot pulled by a phalanx of centurions, Madonna opened the set with her 1990 hit "Vogue," flanked by dancers dressed to match the set’s Roman-fantasia theme.

As "Vogue" segued into 2000’s "Music," break dancers dressed in white track suits took their place beside Madonna, along with a tightrope aerialist. After a brief interlude with LMFAO and a few bars of "Party Rock Anthem" and "Sexy and I Know It," the stage gave way to a troupe of cheerleader-dancers for Madonna’s brand-new single. "Give Me All Your Luvin’," from the forthcoming album MDNA, brought with it Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.

The high school sports theme continued as a drum corps marched onto the stage along with Cee Lo Green. The set veered briefly through "Open Your Heart" (reaching all the way back into 1986’s True Blue) and "Express Yourself" before settling into the opening chords of "Like A Prayer." A church choir dressed in black and white robes now took the stage to back Madonna and Cee Lo for the gospel-tinged 1989 anthem. In the final moment of the show, gold beams projected up into the sky as Madonna disappeared from the stage in a massive plume of smoke. The words "World Peace" appeared across the field in gold lights. 

You can watch the show in its entirety below.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Madonna’s Glittering Super Bowl Spectacle

Madonna performs during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Madonna packed some serious spectacle into her twelve-minute halftime show for Super Bowl XLVI. Ushered in on a golden chariot pulled by a phalanx of centurions, Madonna opened the set with her 1990 hit "Vogue," flanked by dancers dressed to match the set’s Roman-fantasia theme.

As "Vogue" segued into 2000’s "Music," break dancers dressed in white track suits took their place beside Madonna, along with a tightrope aerialist. After a brief interlude with LMFAO and a few bars of "Party Rock Anthem" and "Sexy and I Know It," the stage gave way to a troupe of cheerleader-dancers for Madonna’s brand-new single. "Give Me All Your Luvin’," from the forthcoming album MDNA, brought with it Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.

The high school sports theme continued as a drum corps marched onto the stage along with Cee Lo Green. The set veered briefly through "Open Your Heart" (reaching all the way back into 1986’s True Blue) and "Express Yourself" before settling into the opening chords of "Like A Prayer." A church choir dressed in black and white robes now took the stage to back Madonna and Cee Lo for the gospel-tinged 1989 anthem. In the final moment of the show, gold beams projected up into the sky as Madonna disappeared from the stage in a massive plume of smoke. The words "World Peace" appeared across the field in gold lights. 

You can watch the show in its entirety below.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Rolling Stone Rocks the Super Bowl Tailgate

Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction performs at The Rolling Stone Volkswagen Rock & Roll Fan Tailgate Party at The Crane Bay in Indianapolis.Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Rolling Stone's Volkswagen Rock & Roll Tailgate

The Rolling Stone Volkswagen Rock & Roll Tailgate Party may have been indoors – in Indianapolis’ newly minted party venue Crane Bay, to be specific – but the vibe was one of easygoing revelry. Attendees sporting Brady and Manning jerseys sipped beers, munched on catered hot dogs and cupcakes, and rocked out to a fantastic afternoon of music.

Bloomington, Indiana funk quintet Main Squeeze, the winners of a contest among dozens of Indiana bands, represented the state well, with lead singer Corey Frye’s powerfully soulful vocals forming the foundation of an energetic set. They capped their performance with a pitch-perfect cover of Michael Jackson’s "P.Y.T." It was the perfect bridge between Pete Wentz’s DJ set – which featured Thriller cut "Wanna B Starting Somethin’" – and the Roots’ subsequent performance.

After the Roots’ non-stop, entertainingly choreographed set ended, it was evident that the crowd had seen not just the greatest live rap band going, but maybe the best live band, period. The eight-piece group were capping off a week in Indianapolis as the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon house band, and they brought a fiery medley that drew from the second half of their nearly 20-year career. Opening with Black Thought rhyming his way through "The Web" from last year’s well-received Undun accompanied only by drummer Questlove and tuba player Damon Bryson, the full eight-piece group soon emerged, tearing through tracks from Things Fall Apart, Phrenology, Rising Down, and How I Got Over.

Yet though Black Thought and Questlove lead the band, Sunday’s performance was clearly a showcase for the band’s virtuosic guitarist, Captain Kirk Douglas. Along with singing the hooks for "You Got Me" and "The Seed 2.0," Douglas showed off his rock chops, effortlessly segueing between Slash’s guitar lead from "Sweet Child O' Mine" and a brief nod toward Led Zeppelin’s "Immigrant Song." There were no Michael Jackson covers, but the band somehow found time to squeeze in snippets of Bo Diddley, Donna Summer, Kool & the Gang, and the Incredible Bongo Band’s "Apache," a foundational rap sample. For about an hour, the legendary Roots crew became a peerless cover band.

The party’s headlining act has a virtuosic guitarist of its own. The recently reformed Jane’s Addiction boasts Dave Navarro, one of the 90s most renowned shredders, and he didn’t disappoint on Sunday, prowling the stage like it was the heyday of the Lollapalooza Festival. Like the Roots, the band drew from the breadth of its catalog, from their most recent work back to their 1988 debut, with Perry Farrell’s ascot-enhanced crooner cool and Stephen Perkins’ double-bass drum attack fueling the Alternative Nation classics "Been Caught Stealing" and "Mountain Song."

While the Roots mostly eschewed on-stage banter, Farrell may have been taking his life into his own hands with his own style of repartee. "We are all in a macho mood today," he asserted, by way of acknowledging the football battle only hours away. Then, as the band slowly started into the jazzy "Ted, Just Admit It" behind him, and a huge LCD monitor played a loop of b-movies, old cartoons, and stag films, Farrell started trolling the significant New England contingent in the audience, telling them he hoped their team would lose, and lose badly. Of course Farrell was simply engaging in the sort of performative provocation that built punk, but it was clear that dozens of Patriots fans left Crane Bay freshly revved up for a great Super Bowl game.

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Rolling Stone Rocks the Super Bowl Tailgate

Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction performs at The Rolling Stone Volkswagen Rock & Roll Fan Tailgate Party at The Crane Bay in Indianapolis.Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Rolling Stone's Volkswagen Rock & Roll Tailgate

The Rolling Stone Volkswagen Rock & Roll Tailgate Party may have been indoors – in Indianapolis’ newly minted party venue Crane Bay, to be specific – but the vibe was one of easygoing revelry. Attendees sporting Brady and Manning jerseys sipped beers, munched on catered hot dogs and cupcakes, and rocked out to a fantastic afternoon of music.

Bloomington, Indiana funk quintet Main Squeeze, the winners of a contest among dozens of Indiana bands, represented the state well, with lead singer Corey Frye’s powerfully soulful vocals forming the foundation of an energetic set. They capped their performance with a pitch-perfect cover of Michael Jackson’s "P.Y.T." It was the perfect bridge between Pete Wentz’s DJ set – which featured Thriller cut "Wanna B Starting Somethin’" – and the Roots’ subsequent performance.

After the Roots’ non-stop, entertainingly choreographed set ended, it was evident that the crowd had seen not just the greatest live rap band going, but maybe the best live band, period. The eight-piece group were capping off a week in Indianapolis as the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon house band, and they brought a fiery medley that drew from the second half of their nearly 20-year career. Opening with Black Thought rhyming his way through "The Web" from last year’s well-received Undun accompanied only by drummer Questlove and tuba player Damon Bryson, the full eight-piece group soon emerged, tearing through tracks from Things Fall Apart, Phrenology, Rising Down, and How I Got Over.

Yet though Black Thought and Questlove lead the band, Sunday’s performance was clearly a showcase for the band’s virtuosic guitarist, Captain Kirk Douglas. Along with singing the hooks for "You Got Me" and "The Seed 2.0," Douglas showed off his rock chops, effortlessly segueing between Slash’s guitar lead from "Sweet Child O' Mine" and a brief nod toward Led Zeppelin’s "Immigrant Song." There were no Michael Jackson covers, but the band somehow found time to squeeze in snippets of Bo Diddley, Donna Summer, Kool & the Gang, and the Incredible Bongo Band’s "Apache," a foundational rap sample. For about an hour, the legendary Roots crew became a peerless cover band.

The party’s headlining act has a virtuosic guitarist of its own. The recently reformed Jane’s Addiction boasts Dave Navarro, one of the 90s most renowned shredders, and he didn’t disappoint on Sunday, prowling the stage like it was the heyday of the Lollapalooza Festival. Like the Roots, the band drew from the breadth of its catalog, from their most recent work back to their 1988 debut, with Perry Farrell’s ascot-enhanced crooner cool and Stephen Perkins’ double-bass drum attack fueling the Alternative Nation classics "Been Caught Stealing" and "Mountain Song."

While the Roots mostly eschewed on-stage banter, Farrell may have been taking his life into his own hands with his own style of repartee. "We are all in a macho mood today," he asserted, by way of acknowledging the football battle only hours away. Then, as the band slowly started into the jazzy "Ted, Just Admit It" behind him, and a huge LCD monitor played a loop of b-movies, old cartoons, and stag films, Farrell started trolling the significant New England contingent in the audience, telling them he hoped their team would lose, and lose badly. Of course Farrell was simply engaging in the sort of performative provocation that built punk, but it was clear that dozens of Patriots fans left Crane Bay freshly revved up for a great Super Bowl game.

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Rock and Sports Mingle at Rolling Stone's Super Bowl Party

Gym Class Heroes arrive at Rolling Stone's Bacardi Bash: 150 Years of Rocking The Party at The Crane Bay in Indianapolis.Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Rolling Stone's Bacardi Bash

Toward the end of the Gym Class Heroes set in Indianapolis Saturday night, lead singer Travie McCoy led the crowd in a singalong of the chorus from his hit single "Billionaire." The wish-fulfillment anthem went over well with the packed house at the brand new Crane Bay venue. It seemed that for a time, more than a few in attendance might have been living out a fantasy as well.

 Co-sponsored by Bacardi, whose 150th anniversary fell on the date of the event, Rolling Stone’s Super Bowl party brought the worlds of sports and music together with film and television stars for a one-of-a-kind, high-energy party. Mad Men star John Hamm could be spotted sauntering through the crowd, while Green Bay Packers quarterback and freshly minted NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers mingled in the VIP section with R&B star B.O.B., Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, and Scary Movie ingenue Anna Faris.

Between high-energy sets from Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, Lupe Fiasco and LMFAO, guest DJ Taryn Manning lowered from the ceiling in a specially constructed scaffolding, bringing her eye-level with a crystal chandelier featuring several dangling electric guitars. Below, hundreds of attendees sipped Bacardi mojitos and puffed on complimentary hand-rolled La Gloria Cubana cigars in the recently converted warehouse less than a football field away from the towering Lucas Oil Stadium.

Though a football game brought everyone together, sports seemed to be the last thing on most attendees’ minds. "Who’s playing tomorrow?" asked Lupe Fiasco halfway through his fiery set. After confirming his hometown Chicago Bears hadn’t made the trip to Indy, he launched into his hit single devoted to what he called "my favorite sport": the funky skateboarding anthem "Kick, Push." The first half of Fiasco’s set pummeled through songs like "State Run Radio" and "I Don’t Want to Care Right Now" with punk-rock force, though by the time they launched into the 2007 hit "Superstar," the packed venue felt much more like a dance club.

The bash raged well into the early hours of Sunday morning, with party-rockers LMFAO taking the stage around 2am to an ovation from the still-packed crowd. Though SkyBlu, one-half of the chart-topping Los Angeles duo, was absent, RedFoo and a rotating cast of vigorous dancers more than made up for his absence. Taking the stage bathed in lime-green lasers and wearing what appeared to be Day-Glo Tronsuits, they launched into "Get Crazy," "Put That Ass to Work," and "I’m In Miami, Bitch," as the crowd jumped along. Add several costume changes, an appearance from the hilariously fake robot from the group’s videos, and a massive inflatable zebra, and the group’s neon-coated spring break-style hedonism made for the perfect ending to a star-studded February evening in Indianapolis.

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