page_title: Super Bowl LIII halftime show
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Super Bowl LIII halftime show / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Maroon 5 live show in Hong Kong, China.
context_page_description: The Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show, officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show, took place on February 3, 2019 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of Super Bowl LIII. It was headlined by American pop group Maroon 5, joined by rappers Big Boi and Travis Scott as guests.
  Several musicians reportedly turned down offers to perform the show due to their support for Colin Kaepernick—who has accused the NFL and its franchises of colluding against him due to his national anthem protests against police brutality. As such, Maroon 5, Big Boi, and Scott, along with national anthem singer Gladys Knight, were criticized by fans and critics for accepting the invitation. In response to the controversy, Scott only agreed to participate if the NFL made a donation to a charity supporting social justice, and Maroon 5 later announced a similar donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
  In response to an online petition, a brief clip featuring the cast of SpongeBob SquarePants was shown as a tribute to the show's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, who had died in November 2018.
context_section_description: As early as September 2018, multiple sources had reported that Maroon 5 were to headline the Super Bowl LIII halftime show, but the NFL had not yet made an official announcement. In October 2018, it was reported that Pink and Rihanna had each declined an offer to headline, the former because the negotiation process was too lengthy for her taste and the latter due to her support of Colin Kaepernick. In December, Billboard reported that Houston-based rapper Travis Scott was expected to make a guest appearance.
  On January 13, 2019, the NFL officially announced that Maroon 5 would headline the show, joined by Scott and Big Boi, an Atlanta native and member of the hip-hop duo Outkast. In an interview, Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine explained that the band wanted to bring the halftime show "back to a time when it was a little more simple, when the focus was the connection to the songs."
  After the death of Stephen Hillenburg, creator of the Nickelodeon cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants, on  November 26, 2018, an online petition emerged requesting that David Glen Eisley's song "Sweet Victory"—featured in the episode "Band Geeks", which followed Squidward Tentacles as he organized an ensemble to perform the halftime show at the "Bubble Bowl"—be performed at the show. By December 24, 2018, the petition on Change.org had over one million signatures, and the Twitter account of Mercedes-Benz Stadium also acknowledged the campaign. During the halftime show, a short animation featuring Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob, and Patrick, as well as footage of the Bikini Bottom band from the episode, was used to introduce Scott for his performance of "Sicko Mode". According to animator Nico Colaleo, the animation was completed in a few days.
caption: Maroon 5 performing in 2011
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