SHINEDOWN Would Play SUPER BOWL Halftime Show 'In A Heartbeat' If They Were Asked

In a new interview with Jason Bailey of Audacy Check In, SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith was asked if he and his bandmates would play the Super Bowl halftime show if asked. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. Easy. Totally… I know that the highest attendance was last year with Rihanna, which I love that her pyrotechnics were she was pregnant. That's a true boss. That's a boss right there, man. That's a different level of boss. And it's not gonna matter; nobody's ever gonna beat that anyway. It's unbeatable. That's just a boss move. And also, by the way, flying on a platform that literally she wasn't tied into or anything, I'm, like, this woman is a real-life superhero."

He continued: "I saw rumors that like Usher was doing it this year… Hey, man, I'll tell you this: Usher's a bad mofo. I'm gonna be honest with you, man — Usher is an incredible performer."

Pressed about whether he and the rest of SHINEDOWN would join Usher at the event if he asked them to appear as a surprise guest, Brent said: "In a heartbeat." He added: "I loved Rihanna's Super Bowl, but, man, that West Coast Super Bowl was out of control. That was awesome. But I also remember… I can't remember what year it was. It was either Beyonce or it was Bruno Mars, but Bruno Mars got Chris Martin from COLDPLAY, Beyonce, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS — a little bit more eclectic."

National Football League (NFL) works with Jay-Z and Roc Nation on producing the show, with Apple Music as the primary sponsor for the show.

Only two Super Bowl halftime show performers have come even remotely close to being heavy metal: THE WHO in 2010 and AEROSMITH in 2001.

According to Sportscasting.com, the NFL considers popularity, music genre, and the artists' overall performance value choosing the performers for the halftime show. However, it's not the NFL that chooses who takes the stage. The league comes up with a short list, but the host cities pick the Super Bowl halftime performers.

Back in September 2019, Dee Snider slammed the NFL for hiring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira to perform at the 2020 Super Bowl. After news of the NFL's choice of entertainment for that year's event started to make the rounds, the outspoken TWISTED SISTER frontman took to his Twitter to voice his displeasure. He wrote: "WTF!? @shakira and @jlo for this year's @nfl halftime show!? Once again the great heavy music that rocks the stadiums week after week, game after game is completely ignored. I guess we don't shake our ass enough!!"

He later clarified his views, adding: "My point about this years @NFL halftime show isn't a slight on @shakira or @JLo, it's frustration that week after week rock is the go to music during games but gets no respect when it comes to the Super Bowl! And I don't think I'm popular enough for that slot. But @Metallica..."

This was not the first time Snider had taken a shot at the NFL for failing to secure rock acts for the Super Bowl halftime show. Back in February 2019, Snider observed that the playlists at NFL stadiums everywhere for decades have played music by a number of hard rock and heavy metal acts, yet no metal band has ever performed at the halftime show. He proceeded to list songs by METALLICA, OZZY OSBOURNE, GUNS N' ROSES, TWISTED SISTER and QUEEN as some of the ones that are often blasted over the P.A .at NFL games.

"Hey @NFL! Your go-to songs at EVERY game are metal: Enter Sandman, Cum On Feel the Noise, Thunder, Crazy Train, We're Not Gonna Take It, We Are the Champions, Final Countdown, I Wanna Rock, We Will Rock You, Welcome to Jungle. NONE of those bands have EVER played half-time show!" he wrote at the time.

Photo credit: Sanjay Parikh