The Super Bowl XXX halftime show occurred on January 28, 1996, at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona as part of Super Bowl XXX and featured American entertainer Diana Ross. The show was produced by Radio City Music Hall. The performance was entitled Take Me Higher: A Celebration of 30 years of the Super Bowl.
The show featured a number of Ross' songs, both from her solo career and her time in The Supremes. The show made use of pyrotechnics, special effects, and stadium card stunts.[1] Ross made many costume changes throughout the performance.[2]
History
Ross had previously performed the national anthem at Super Bowl XVI in 1982.
The singer had developed a show which would last for a duration of thirteen-and-a-half minutes. Broadcaster NBC demanded that she shorten the performance to twelve minutes. After she pleaded with them to allow her to keep the performance unabbreviated, they relented to allow her a thirteen-and-a-half minute time slot.[3]
Synopsis
Ross, in a red minidress, started the performance standing on a crane, which lowered her onto the stage as sparklers were illuminated on the bottom of the crane, while singing "Stop! In the Name of Love". Hundreds of dancers occupied the field surrounding the stage, spelling out Ross' name.[4]
Ross’ halftime performance has been ranked positively among Super Bowl halftime shows.[2][7][8][9][10] Her performance was cited as The Weeknd's favorite halftime performance; he would later go on to perform for the Super Bowl LV halftime show.[11]
Ross was cited for extravagant wardrobe changes during the performance.[12]
Commercial
In the week following her performance, Ross' newest album, Take Me Higher, saw a 74% increase in sales, selling 3,000 copies in the week following the performance.[13]
