On this very day, 22 years ago, a band took center stage at halftime of big time football game, and the world was never the same.
Roll the tape…
Oh wait, that’s not it. What you saw above was only the second greatest halftime musical performance of all-time.
The greatest halftime musical performance of all-time belongs, hands down, to Creed.
The Dallas Cowboys played the Denver Broncos on Thanksgiving back in 2001, and while the game itself was fine, almost no one remembers any passes, runs, or tackles from that day. No, fans of all ages just remember the iconic, over the top, epic performance that Creed and frontman Scott Stapp laid down in front of nearly 65,000 people at Texas Stadium just outside of Dallas.
At the time, Creed was on top of the world.
The rock band from Tallahassee was in the midst of three straight multi-platinum album releases. Their debut, My Own Prison, was certified 5x Platinum at the time while their sophomore project, Human Clay, was certified diamond. Creed had released Weathered just two days before this performance, an album that would go on to become 6x Platinum by 2003.
Although it was a short set, Creed made the absolute most of their time in the national spotlight, opening with “Higher”, then moving into the all-time great song “My Sacrifice”, before closing the show with “Don’t Stop Dancing”. Multiple acrobats swung from long strands of fabric, Stapp wore a custom number 11 Cowboys jersey with his name on the back, and while the production was immediately recognized as being something special, the love for this performance has only grown with age.
Of course, over the years many critics came out of the woodwork and trashed the band, who broke up back in 2004. They briefly got back together in 2009 and released another album titled Full Circle, but that was short lived and they disbanded again in 2012.
But, as we’ve been so excited to hear, Creed is on a comeback once again.
After being credited for the Texas Rangers World Series win and the midseason turn around of the Minnesota Vikings, the band announced that they were getting back together and hitting the road, alongside 3 Doors Down, for a Summer of ’99 reunion tour which got the world fired up.
This year’s NFL games will feature Jack Harlow, Steve Aoki, and the queen of country Dolly Parton herself, which should be pretty great coming on the release of her debut rock album Rockstar, but I think it’s safe to say that nothing will be able to quite compare to the greatness that Creed laid down for us 22 years ago today.
In honor of Thanksgiving being tomorrow, let’s raise a glass to Creed and roll the tape on this iconic performance that will forever be a part of the American fabric that brings us all together.
We should be beyond thankful that we get to have something of this caliber in our lives.
