I was ecstatic when this year’s Grey Cup halftime show was announced. Green Day is one of the best-selling artists of my generation and a band that’s remained relevant for decades. They seemed like a perfect choice.
Now that the group’s performance has garnered nearly universal acclaim, it’s time to figure out where the pop-punk giants fit into the picture from a historical perspective.
Without further ado, here are my top five Grey Cup halftime shows of all time. Among those that narrowly missed the cut were Lenny Kravitz for his performance of “American Woman” in 2007, Imagine Dragons and their incredible stage show in Vancouver in 2014, and Nickelback playing at the peak of their fame at BC Place Stadium in 2011.
5. 100th Grey Cup — Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepson, Mariana’s Trench, Gordon Lightfoot (Toronto, 2012)
It’s hard to describe how much of a grip Justin Bieber had on the musical landscape in the early 2010s and you’d be hard-pressed to find a catchier pop song than “Call Me Maybe.” This Jepson earworm is one of the most-streamed songs ever with over one billion plays on Spotify and is thought to be the best-selling song from a female artist of the decade.
All four of the acts hold a Canadian passport and the transition from Lightfoot to Bieber provided a great sampling of artists for all ages. The league showed out for the Grey Cup’s centennial and the halftime show was well-deserving of a spot on this list.
4. 93rd Grey Cup — Black Eyed Peas (Vancouver, 2005)
One of few acts to have headlined both the Grey Cup and the Super Bowl halftime shows, the Black Eyed Peas were dominating the charts when they came across the border to take the mainstage at BC Place Stadium.
Playing a mix of four songs from their ultra-popular album Monkey Business, three of which hit the top of the Canadian charts, this was an all-killer, no-filler set from what remains the only hip-hop act to grace the stage at the Grand National Drunk. The Black Eyed Peas were also the first non-Canadian group to play the Grey Cup’s halftime show, which opened the doors for others on the list.
3. 92nd Grey Cup — Tragically Hip (Ottawa, 2004)
If listening to Gord Downie singing “Courage” doesn’t make your Tim Hortons-marinated heart burst with national pride as you sit on your chesterfield eating a Coffee Crisp, I’m not sure what to tell you. It’s simply Canadiana at its finest.
As Canada’s greatest live act, The Tragically Hip brought all of their swagger to the forefront in Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa, marking the best moment of the short-lived Ottawa Renegades franchise. The team wasn’t in the game, and there is little else to choose from, but I stand by it.
2. 110th Grey Cup — Green Day (Hamilton, 2023)
Despite performing on a relatively stripped-down stage, Green Day rocked our collective faces off. The group started with the newer tune in “The American Dream is Killing Me” before moving to the song that broke them into the mainstream, “Basket Case,” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” which foreshadowed the second-half frustrations of the Blue Bombers and their shattered hopes of a dynasty.
The band finished with “Holiday,” helping to remind us of why Grey Cup is the best day of the year. While the lyrics are a commentary on the American war machine and relatively bleak in nature, the chorus reminds us that we can dream of a brighter future and move towards where we want to be. The pyrotechnics were awesome and signified the eternal hope of CFL fans burning bright as we celebrate our biggest holiday.
1. 105th Grey Cup — Shania Twain (Ottawa, 2017)
The talent and spectacle embodied by this performance made it an instant classic. A massive snowfall began early in the day and blanketed the nation’s capital in fresh flakes, pushing the snow removal crew to the absolute brink.
Canada’s Queen of Country responded by riding into the stadium on a dog sled as she was escorted to the stage by six huskies. She met a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the stage, wearing a red bodysuit that glittered and sparkled with the glitz and glam for which Twain is known worldwide.
In a pre-Taylor Swift world, Twain was the best-selling female country artist in the world. This was her second crack at playing the Grey Cup after performing in Edmonton in 2002 and she nailed it, this time in her home province.
