Noel Gallagher has claimed he switched off during Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed, record-breaking Super Bowl halftime performance, which he branded “absolute nonsense”.
The Oasis rocker gave a typically frank answer when asked about the show, which is now the most-watched halftime gig of all time after drawing 133.5 million viewers – more than the Super Bowl itself.
“I had to switch it off… it was absolute nonsense,“ Gallagher, 57, told Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent on Talk Sport.
“I didn’t watch it all,” he admitted. “I just switched it off. There [were] like 300 people getting out of a car in the first two minutes.”
Asked about his favourite halftime performances, Gallagher said he rarely bothers tuning in: “I never watch the halftime thing, I’m not interested,” he said. “It’s usually artists I don’t like.”
Lamar is believed to be a fan of Gallagher’s band, as he has been spotted wearing Oasis t-shirts on a number of occasions.
Gallagher has previously made headlines for his opinions on hip-hop artists, most notably in 2008 when he slammed Glastonbury organisers for booking Jay-Z as a headliner.
Claiming that the festival was “built on a tradition of guitar music, Gallagher said Jay-Z’s booking could be why Glastonbury tickets weren’t selling as quickly as usual.
“If it ain't broke, don't fix it,” he said at the time. “If you start to break it then people aren't going to go. I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance.”
He added: “Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music and even when they throw the odd curveball in on a Sunday night you go 'Kylie Minogue?' I don't know about it. But I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong.”
Jay-Z famously trolled Gallagher during his performance by opening with a tongue-in-cheek cover of the Oasis hit “Wonderwall”.
The music mogul has been widely credited with breathing fresh life into the halftime show after striking a deal with the NFL and his entertainment company, Roc Nation. In 2020, the first production from his firm saw global stars Shakira and Jennifer Lopez perform together, with a guest appearance from Latin pop king Bad Bunny.
More recent performances have seen megastars including The Weeknd, Eminem and Rihanna headline, drawing huge TV audiences including the younger viewers the NFL was said to be keen to attract.
In a five-star review of Lamar’s performance, critic Mark Beaumont said the show would “undoubtedly go down as one of the most important halftime shows in the history of the event, if not the most significant mass-televised rap performance of all time”.
“Facing a high-pressure career landmark, a rap coronation and, who knows, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime chance to stagger the downward course of American history, Lamar seems remarkably unruffled,” he wrote.
“His mischievous grin suggests, perhaps, that he knows the fundamental underlying message of his show will go way over the head of the doofus Potus but strike the heart of the nation.”
