America Groans Over NFL's Pick for Super Bowl Headliner

Coldplay is 'dull, soulless dad rock'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 4, 2015 6:14 AM CST
America Groans Over NFL's Pick for Super Bowl Headliner
Coldplay will perform at halftime at the Super Bowl on CBS, Feb. 7, 2016.   (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)

Coldplay will try to outshine Left Shark, er, Katy Perry during the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. The NFL has named the British band the musical headliner of the big game on Feb. 7, per the Wall Street Journal. The show will come two months after the release of Coldplay's seventh album, A Head Full of Dreams, out Friday. "We are so excited and honored and thrilled," Chris Martin says, per CNN. "It's going to be wonderful." Adweek is one of the many outlets to point out that Twitter didn't take too kindly to the announcement ("erupts in mockery" is the phrase it used), and it shares a few choice tweets. A standout, from Josh Gondelman: "Coldplay is doing the Super Bowl halftime show. Players are going to start calling their old teams in tears, trying to get back together."

Writing at Yahoo Sports, Eric Edholm isn't even that kind: "Coldplay is dull, soulless dad rock that's about as energetic as a dose of lithium. They're everything the kids do not want to watch. Their best days were in the early 2000s as Beatles knockoffs, the suburban's answer to Oasis maybe. This is almost laughable, honestly." Maybe the other performers will bring some heat? Bruno Mars, who headlined in 2014, is also expected to perform, while 2013 headliner Beyonce is reportedly in talks to make a guest appearance. Her voice appears on Coldplay's new track "Hymn for the Weekend," reports Us Weekly. (Here's what's on after the game.)

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