Green Day opens Super Bowl in rousing fashion
Green Day finally got their Super Bowl moment.
No, it wasn’t in the form of a halftime show — which is something the band has been worthy of headlining now for well over two decades. Instead, the pop-punk legends opened up the Super Bowl pregame entertainment festivities inside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Sunday.
The East Bay band — consisting of vocalist-guitarist Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool — performed as the pre-game ceremonies unfolded and generations of Super Bowl MVPs — including Tom Brady, Jalen Hurts, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning and Jerry Rice — made their way onto the turf.
Green Day performed a four-song set of mostly upbeat and often abbreviated fan favorites, including “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and “American Idiot.”
And while the band and particularly Armstrong are known for their outspoken beliefs, Green Day did not use the Super Bowl forum to make any political statements, instead focusing on the excitement of the situation.
“Welcome to the Bay!” Armstrong said. “It’s Super Bowl 60!!”
The pregame entertainment began as Coco Jones delivered a soaring version of “Lift Every Voice” (aka the Black National Anthem). Jones is an immensely talented R&B/pop/soul singer, best known for the Grammy-winning hit “ICU.” She released her full-length debut album — “Why Not More?” — in 2025.
Charlie Puth handled the national anthem. The singer, known for such multi-platinum-certified hits as “Marvin Gaye” and “See You Again,” will return to the Bay Area to perform at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on May 1.
Brandi Carlile, the acclaimed folk-rock-pop singer-songwriter with a staggering 11 Grammy victories to her credit, sang “America the Beautiful.” Carlile will be back in the Bay Area to perform on March 6 at Chase Center in San Francisco.
The singers were accompanied by ALS performers Fred Michael Beam (national anthem and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”) and Julian Ortiz (“America the Beautiful”).
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