We’re just days away from Super Bowl LIII. Our New England Patriots will be facing the Los Angeles Rams at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on this coming Sunday evening. While I’ll be watching for the game, many others tune in for the commercials and many others tune in for the halftime concert. And this year will be no different. But the NFL had the chance to do something they hadn’t done before for a Super Bowl halftime show- country music.
There are very few NFL stadiums in the heart of American where country music lies supreme. Obviously, Nashville is number one. But behind Music City, Atlanta probably is next in line to be home to an NFL franchise AND have thick roots in country music. And Nashville will probably never host a Super Bowl. No offense to Maroon 5, Big Boi or Travis Scott, but c’mon NFL, pay homage to country music for once. Atlanta was the perfect Super Bowl host to do it- unless you decide to play with Mother Nature again and grant Nashville a Super Bowl- which is unlikely.
And who could the NFL have tapped from country to put on one helluva Super Bowl… Well, we’ve been lobbying for Kenny Chesney to play the Pepsi Halftime Show for years. He is one of the few artists of any genre who can headline and sell out NFL stadiums across the country every summer. And let’s face it, he may already have plans to be in the building as he has strong ties with Robert Kraft and the Patriots organization. He was seen in Mr. Kraft’s suite in past Super Bowls.
But there’s also a plethora of Georgia born and bred country artists that would put on a great show. Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt are two icons that come to mind. And we know the argument will be that traditional country would struggle on national television because a lot of people don’t like country. But guess, what!? A LOT OF PEOPLE DO LIKE COUNTRY.
And if that is the argument, we can all be real here. Country music as played on country radio today definitely straddles the genre lines with influences and sounds of pop, rock and hip hop. So why not take modern country artists who flirt with other genres!? Again, the list artists from Georgia who are ruling in the modern country world but can appease the masses is pretty long. Artists like Cole Swindell, Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett, Brantley Gilbert, Kane Brown, Kip Moore, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan, to name a few. Hell, throw Florida GEORGIA Line out there with Bebe Rexha to perform their 2018 smash hit, ‘Meant To Be.’ Give us SOME country music.
The last time that the NFL had a halftime show that exclusively featured country artists, it was 1994. Yes, 25 years ago. Seems like long enough. That show featured Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Clink Black and The Judds. And only fittingly, that Super Bowl was also in Atlanta! So 25 years later, we’re back in Atlanta for a Super Bowl…
Nearly every year, the NFL has pop stars playing the halftime show. Let’s change it up. If there was any Super Bowl to feature some of country’s biggest stars, it was this weekend. Here we are 25 years later, we’re back in Atlanta for a Super Bowl. What better year could it have been to have had a country halftime show.
The truth is… the NFL dropped the ball here. Pun intended.