Bruno Mars set to heat up Super Bowl
NEW YORK — Everyone is in Bruno Mars’ ear about one thing when it comes to performing the Super Bowl halftime show: How will you deal with the freezing cold?
“Everyone’s putting the fear of God in me like there’s going to be a blizzard,” Mars said.
“I’m going to wear a beekeeper suit, I don’t know,” he answered about how he will keep warm when he performs Feb. 2. “I’m not going to know until I get there ... I’m not trying to hype myself up too much.
The 28-year-old pop crooner will hit the stage for the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The singer, whose hits range from Grenade to Locked Out of Heaven, typically performs with a full band where he sings, dances and strums the guitar onstage.
“The weather affects your vocal cords and if you’re playing guitar, you can’t wear mittens, you know, and your fingers are hitting these strings that are cold as well,” said Katy Perry.
“I’ve been in some situations where it just like dries out your voice — the cold does. It’s not where you shine your best, but you do what you have to do.”
Much like his epic performance on Saturday Night Live that became the following week’s water cooler topic as well as a ratings success, Mars understands that his Super Bowl stint is massively high profile, and could boost the pop star — who has two platinum albums, many radio hits and sold out international tours — to new heights.
He debuted on the music scene in 2010, co-starring on B.o.B’s Nothin on You and Travie McCoy’s Billionaire — multi-platinum hits Mars sang on, co-wrote and co-produced.
He went on to release his debut single, Just the Way You Are, months after, topping the charts on his own and earning his first Grammy Award.
“When we got that phone call, what do you say? ‘Nah?’ What do you say? ‘Absolutely. Let’s rock,’ ” he said. “It was something exciting for me and my (band). It wasn’t too long ago when we were performing in clubs and bars and pubs, and even when I put (my first) album out, (we were) opening acts for a bunch of different artists, living in a van and travelling around and kind of putting in the work and time.
“You know, performing on TV and stuff, whatever the NFL saw, they dug it and that’s why we got the call.”
Mars won’t be the only one performing in the cold to round out the NFL season: The Foo Fighters and Zac Brown Band will perform on a cruise ship docked at Pier 88 in Manhattan a day before the big game. The Roots, Imagine Dragons, Run DMC and Fall Out Boy will also take the stage on the ship.