While Bad Bunny took center stage at the official Super Bowl LX halftime show, veteran punk rockers Green Day opened the festivities in Santa Clara, and what they did immediately had fans talking.
”Should be embarrassed”
The band — Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool — played a short, high-energy lineup of classics from their politically charged American Idiot album, including Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and the title track.
The brief Green Day set served as a warm-up for headliner Bad Bunny and his halftime show.
Before the Super Bowl, the band had already drawn attention after Armstrong didn’t hold back at a pre-Super Bowl concert in San Francisco on Feb. 6, declaring: “This goes out to all the ICE agents out there. Wherever you are: quit your shitty-ass job. Quit that shitty job you have.”
He added: “Come on this side of the line.”
Fans were now anxiously waiting to see if Green Day would make another bold statement during the Super Bowl performance.
But the the band ended up skipping the politically charged second verse of their iconic “American Idiot,” but even so, they were briefly censored during the televised broadcast. Over the 22 years since its release, the verse has been tweaked multiple times, with Armstrong and the band using it to reflect on current events.
This time, the line, “the subliminal mindf**k America”, was deemed too strong for what the NFL considers family viewing and was cut from the broadcast.
But just the fact that Green Day played American Idiot left many fans stunned. It was clear the band was going to make one statement, and one statement only — to get their message across to the POTUS.
One X user fumed,
“The @NFL should be embarrassed of a political statement by GreenDay. Know your audience. Always rules for thee, not for me, Woke garbage.”
Another wrote, “Green Day just performed an ‘anti-America’ song at the Super Bowl. Will they get the same hate as Bad Bunny? I think tf not. Btw I love Green Day as artists and that won’t ever change :)”
Even though the performance during Super Bowl LX largely avoided new political statements, fans read plenty into it.
A third said, “folks upset about GreenDay being political, I’m sure we’re in for something during halftime.”
“I am a little shocked”
Even though their political stance wasn’t new, Green Day has famously criticized U.S. presidents from George W. Bush to Donald Trump, fans were still surprised to hear American Idiot blast across Levi’s Stadium.
“I am a little shocked Green Day got to do American Idiot,” one fan admitted. Another shared a photo of a horrified woman, writing: “Green Day performing American Idiot at the Super Bowl.”
A third celebrated, “Green Day performing American Idiot on national TV as they f***ing SHOULDDD.”
The NFL shared clips of the band’s performance, helping the moment go viral.
One post captioned American Idiot with “still rocking 🤘,” while another showed Holiday with “this absolutely rips 🎸.”
Green Day did not earn a paycheck for the performance, highlighting that the global exposure of the Super Bowl often matters more than money.
Other performers during the event included Charlie Puth, Brandi Carlile, Coco Jones, and halftime headliner Bad Bunny, while the Seahawks beat the Patriots 29-13.
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