Adam Levine has thanked critics for pushing Maroon 5 “to do better” following the lukewarm reception to their Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday.
Maroon 5 failed to impress critics with their performance at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday, with official reviews describing the show as “lacklustre”, “anticlimatic” and “basic”.
After their performance, frontman Adam took to Instagram to share photos from their Chinese lantern display, which formed the words “one” and “love”, and thanked their fans and critics.
“When we accepted the responsibility to perform at the SBHTS, I took out my pen and just wrote,” he posted. “Some of the words that came to me in that moment eventually made their way onto the incredible lanterns that flew high and low tonight. We thank the universe for this historic opportunity to play on the world’s biggest stage. We thank our fans for making our dreams possible. And we thank our critics for always pushing us to do better. One Love.”
He continued by listing some of the words he had written down, such as “forgive”, “inspire”, “overcome”, and “kneel”, presumably a nod to embattled quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose career has been derailed following his 2016 decision to kneel during the pre-game U.S. national anthem to highlight racial injustice and police brutality. Ahead of the show, Adam had hinted at the possibility of acknowledging Kaepernick’s plight during their set, but there was no visible tribute onstage.
Adam’s wife Behati Prinsloo, who was seated inside the stadium, wrote on Instagram that she was “so proud” of the group, who were supported by Big Boi and Travis Scott. Travis’ partner Kylie Jenner shared footage of their one-year-old daughter Stormi giggling as she watched her dad’s performance on a TV and wrote “PRICELESS” in the caption.
Maroon 5 reportedly got the coveted slot after Rihanna turned it down to stand in solidarity with Kaepernick. On Sunday, the Take a Bow singer shared a video of her unimpressed face after overhearing a fellow passenger asking to watch the game on their plane. She later shared a shot of the passenger and called him a “weirdo” followed by a hand-drawn sketch of Kaepernick taking a knee, with the caption, “For those of you thought I was watchin the super bowl…we beefin (sic).”
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