This Super Bowl performance was the first to spike viewership at halftime

The Super Bowl Halftime Show is as iconic as the game itself. This tradition began in 1967, featuring several marching bands from the University of Arizona, Grambling University, and Anaheim High School. In 1993, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, would change everything for the halftime show.

Michael Jackson performed at Super Bowl XXVII on January 31, 1993, in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The game was won by the Dallas Cowboys 52-17 over the Buffalo Bills. Jackson's performance was organized to improve viewership of the event after the previous year's halftime show was overshadowed by an In Living Color special. This resulted in a 22% decrease in game viewership that year.

Jackson's performance was opened with a voiceover by actor James Earl Jones, who introduced an "unprecedented Super Bowl spectacular starring Michael Jackson." The performance served its purpose and became the first show to increase viewership between the first and second half of a Super Bowl game.

The following songs were performed during Michael Jackson's halftime show:

• "Jam" (includes the beginning of "Why You Wanna Trip On Me")
  
• "Billie Jean"
  
• "Black or White" (includes the beginning of "Another Part Of Me")
  
• "We Are the World" (children's choir)
  
• "Heal the World"

The children's choir consisted of over 3,000 local Los Angeles area children who sang "We Are The World" and would then join Jackson in singing "Heal The World" with an inflatable globe resembling the cover art for the single featured on Jackson's 1991 album Dangerous, which saw an 83% increase in sales of the Super Bowl show.

Michael Jackson's halftime show is recognized as one of the best halftime shows in Super Bowl history. The league doesn't pay performers for the halftime show, but the NFL and Frito-Lay agreed to donate $100,000 to Jackson's Heal the World Foundation.