ATLANTA — After months of rumors, the NFL has finally officially announced the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show in Atlanta.
According to a tweet by the league on Sunday, Maroon 5 will take the stage with Outkast's Big Boi and Travis Scott.
The announcement ends speculation that has run rampant since September.
Here's what we originally wrote about the delayed announcement:
ORIGINAL STORY:
With less than a month until Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the halftime show's star performers have yet to be officially announced. What's going on?
For months, rumors have swirled that Maroon 5 would headline the halftime show, and while that seems like the most likely bet, the NFL has yet to confirm it.
Other rumors have indicated that Travis Scott would take the stage with the aforementioned Maroon 5 during the show, but that too has not been officially confirmed.
A Variety magazine article claimed that Maroon 5 reached out to more than a half-dozen stars to join them, including Andre 3000 of Outkast, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lauryn Hill, Nicki Minaj, but had not yet locked any guests down and, in some cases, been flat turned down.
One report has claimed that the Rolling Stones have been approached by Maroon 5 for the show as well. (Maroon 5, after all, has the hit song "Moves Like Jagger", so it would make sense. Kind of).
Why hasn't the Super Bowl halftime show been announced yet?
So, why hasn't the Super Bowl halftime show been announced yet? Is it unusual?
Yeah, by the standards of recent Super Bowls, the announcement is very late.
For Super Bowl XLVIII's halftime show, Bruno Mars was announced as the performer the previous September.
Back in 2015, it was in late November that Katy Perry was officially confirmed as the performer of the halftime show at Super Bowl L. (See photos from that from that performance)
In 2016, Lady Gaga was announced as the halftime show performer of Super Bowl LI in late September. (See the photos from that performance)
Justin Timberlake was announced as the performer in Super Bowl LII in October 2017. (See photos of that performance)
Is it due to the NFL controversy over Colin Kaepernick? (Rihanna reportedly turned down the chance to play in front of hundreds of millions as an act of solidarity to the former quarterback.)
Have the NFL not officially announced Maroon 5 because they're afraid of the backlash they might receive from not securing an artist with more local ties to the music-centric Atlanta culture?
Are they hoping that by building anticipation, it will create more buzz and excitement than just saying Adam Levine and friends will perform (or whoever else it might end up being)?
Do they just not know yet? (This is almost surely not the case)
It's not exactly clear at this point.
What do we know about this year's Super Bowl halftime show?
Here's what we know about the Super Bowl LIII halftime show:
* It will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
* It will be a half-time of the big show
* It is sponsored by Pepsi and Pizza Hut.
Yes, Maroon 5 is very likely playing. Yes, they'll almost certainly have guests. We just don't know much more. Yet. The NFL has not yet responded to a request for comment on this story.
We DO know that Atlanta's own Jermaine Dupri is helping to produce a series of concerts at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta the week of the Super Bowl. Featured performers include Goodie Mob, DJ Holiday, Waka Flocka, K Camp, Ying Yang Twins, and others. Click here for more.
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