21 December 2018
Newsdesk
Maroon 5 have reportedly landed hip-hop star Travis Scott as a special guest for their 2019 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The rockers are heavily rumoured to be headlining the performance in Atlanta, Georgia on 3 February (19), and now sources tell TMZ that Texas native Travis has agreed to join them on the big stage.
The group, fronted by Adam Levine, is also said to be in talks with a few other artists for surprise appearances, including Cardi B, who features on the band's Girls Like You smash hit, and Atlanta rap legend Big Boi from Outkast.
Representatives for Travis have yet to comment on the speculation, while Adam recently tried to dodge questions about the halftime gig, which is expected to be confirmed by bosses at America's National Football League (NFL) in the New Year.
The singer was quizzed about the Super Bowl reports during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last month (Nov18), and did little to dispel the gossip as he responded with sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek answers.
When talk show host Ellen DeGeneres brought up the speculation, Adam replied, "What the hell are you talking about? It's a rumour. I can neither confirm nor deny the truth of this rumour. It's definitely a rumour. And the rumour's a rumour that everyone seems to be discussing."
"It's the Super Bowl," he added. "It's a great event and there's gonna be a band performing... or an artist of some kind performing at halftime. And it's gonna be great, regardless of who it is. Whoever is lucky enough to get that gig probably is gonna crush it."
Adam then hinted that he and his bandmates were filled with a multitude of emotions about playing one of the biggest shows of their careers: "Whoever does it is probably equal parts nervous and excited," he mused. "This is all speculative because I don't know who I'm talking about... If it were me, I'd be excited, I'd be nervous... If I were doing it, which I can't confirm or deny I am, I would be excited."
The news of Maroon 5's headlining performance hasn't been without controversy - many fans argued NFL officials should have tapped an Atlanta icon to highlight the city's rich music history, while others called on the band to drop out of the show in support of American football star Colin Kaepernick, who argues he has been frozen out of the NFL since 2017 over his decision to kneel during the pre-game national anthems to protest racial injustice and police brutality.
It was rumoured that Rihanna had actually been the NFL chiefs' first choice to front the 2019 Super Bowl Halftime Show, but declined over the organisation's treatment of Kaepernick - just as JAY-Z claimed to have done last year (17) for the 2018 event, which was subsequently fronted by Justin Timberlake.
