Remember When: The Judds Brought Country Music to the Super Bowl Halftime Show With Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, and Travis Tritt
For the finale, Naomi joined Wynonna for their 1990 hit "Love Can Build a Bridge," a first reunion for the duo after splitting in 1991.
By the time of Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994, country music was fairly unrepresented during the halftime shows with the exception of the singing of the national anthem. In 1974, Charley Pride became the first country artist to perform āThe Star-Spangled Bannerā at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Nearly two decades later, Garth Brooks continued a long line of country artists that would take on the national anthem in the decades to follow when he stepped up to sing during SuperĀ Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California in 1993, along with Marlee Matlin, while Michael Jackson handled the halftime show.
A year later, the Judds took country music to the next level at the Super Bowl with an all-star halftime show that featured Wynonna and Naomi Judd, and special guests Clint Black, Travis Tritt, and Tanya Tucker.
Dubbed Rockinā Country Sunday, the halftime show kicked off with Black and āTuckered Out,ā from his album No Time to Kill, followed by Tucker and her 1993 hit āItās a Little Too Lateā then Tritt and a cover of Elvis Presleyās 1975 song āT-R-O-U-B-L-Eā before Wynonna Judd came out with her solo No. 1 from ā92, āNo One Else on Earth.ā
[RELATED: 6 Songs You Didnāt Know Naomi Judd Wrote for The Judds and Wynonna]
Country singers Wynonna Judd (left), Naomi Judd, and Travis Tritt perform during the half-time show at the 1994 Atlanta, Georgia, Superbowl XXVII football game at the Georgia Dome. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
For the finale, Naomi joined Wynonna for their 1990 hit āLove Can Build a Bridge,ā which marked the first time the main stadium lights were turned off during a halftime performance. The performance was the first reunion of many for the duo following their split in 1991.
The Judds were joined at the end of the song by Stevie Wonder, Charlie Daniels, the Georgia Satellites, and even Joe Namath and Elijah Wood.
While Wynonna continued releasing solo albums, the duo continued to reunite after the Super Bowl with a series of arena concerts in 1998 and 2000, a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2006, festivals in 2008 and 2009, and their Last Encore Tour in 2010.
By the end of Super Bowl XXVIII the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 30-13, earning their fourth Super Bowl title.Ā
Nearly a decade after the Judds helped widen the door to country music, and the typically pop halftime show for the Super Bowl, Shania Twain was the next artist in the genre to take over the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show in 2003, along with No Doubt and Sting.
Photo: George Rose/Getty Images