Maroon 5 – "Sugar" (2015)

Don't let nobody touch it

Unless that somebody's me

Every year, 2 or 3 lines boldly names one of the songs that will be performed during the Super Bowl halftime show.

Those of you who are in Las Vegas right now still have time to get to a casino and lay down a prop bet on whether my prediction will be right or wrong this year.  Trust me – I ain’t missed one yet.

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A lot of performers – including Rihanna and Cardi B – replied “Thanks but no thanks!” when the NFL invited them to headline today’s Super Bowl LIII halftime show.

That’s because they believe that the league has blackballed Colin Kaepernick because he sat, then kneeled during the National Anthem to protest the oppression of African-Americans.  

Maroon 5

Maroon 5 eventually agreed to appear.  If I was asked to sum up Maroon 5’s music in one word, it would probably be . . . meh.

But no matter.  You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt.  And I’ve got to pick a Maroon 5 song that will be performed at the halftime of Super Bowl LIII later today.

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Ordinarily I might pick the group’s 2018 single “Girls Like You,” which was a #1 hit.

But “Girls Like You” featured the aforementioned Cardi B.  If Cardi B turned down the NFL’s invitation to be the star of the Super Bowl halftime show, why in the world would she agree to appear to do just one number as Maroon 5’s sidekick?  (No way, José!)

Cardi B will NOT be performing
at Super Bowl LIII tonight

Maroon 5 has also collaborated with Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar, Future, and SZA.  Rihanna also turned down the NFL, so she’s out – and I’m guessing that none of those other performers will want to cross the Colin Kaepernick picket line either.  So I scratched all their collaborations with Maroon 5.

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I’m tempted to go with “Moves Like Jagger,” which is the Maroon 5 song I know the best.  (The physical therapist who runs the daily exercise sessions at my mother’s assisted living place plays it regularly.)

But that single featured Christina Aguilera, and I’m not willing to lay my winning streak on the line in hopes that Aguilera will join Maroon 5 on stage at Super Bowl LIII.

So my choice is “Sugar” – a 2015 hit from the album V that made it all the way to #2 on the Billboard “Hot 100” and was nominated for the “Best Pop Group Performance” Grammy.

Click here to view the official music video of “Sugar,” which shows Maroon 5 surprising – or appearing to surprise – several different brides by showing up unannounced to perform the song at their weddings.  (Some believe that parts of the “Sugar” video were staged using actors, but it seems that at least two of the weddings shown in the video were real.)

Click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon.