The first celebrity to perform during Super Bowl halftime definitely wasn’t twerking
A beloved household name led the way for JLo and Shakira’s epic Super Bowl halftime show Sunday night.
Drum roll ... It was “Hello Dolly!” star Carol Channing.
The late stage and screen legend was the very first celebrity to take the grand stage. At JLo’s age: 50.
The year was 1970 and coincidentally the newest Super Bowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, were going against the Minnesota Vikings at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans (the Chiefs won 23-7, the last time they were victors).
JLo, Shakira shake Hard Rock Stadium with high-energy, Latin Super Bowl halftime show
Channing’s performance hardly involved stripper poles, ropes, sparkly bodysuits or twerking. The Super Bowl IV halftime show featured the Southern University marching band tribute to Mardi Gras and a reenactment of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, with cannons, smoke and “dead” soldiers lying on the ground.
Since the game was played in the Stone Age, it’s hard to find any trace of her as the YouTube video leaves her out entirely. But fans remember her presence vividly, as did Pepsi. The soda company/sponsor put the star, who died in 2019 at age 97, in an ad re-creating her act, belting out the patriotic “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Though not a football fan (she reportedly didn’t know even who was playing) Channing was so well received that she was invited back to Super Bowl VI at the same stadium on Jan. 16, 1972. The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins 24–3 (the Dolphins went on to win the Super Bowl the next year to cap their undefeated season).
This halftime show during Super Bowl VI also featured a jazz heavy tribute to Louis Armstrong with Ella Fitzgerald. Channing, the “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” star, didn’t strip down to her skivvies, but wore a long, white furry robe.
