Adam Levine Responds to Critics Who Panned Maroon 5 Super Bowl Halftime Show

“We thank our critics for always pushing us to do better.”

With the New England Patriots leading the Los Angeles Rams 3-0 after an excruciatingly low-scoring first half, Maroon 5 had a chance to deliver an exciting performance for millions at the Super Bowl LIII halftime show. 

By most accounts, that’s not what happened. 

Despite plenty of pyro, shirtless guitar solos, guest appearances from Travis Scott and Big Boi, a full gospel choir, and a random cameo from Spongebob Squarepants, everyone from NBA superstar LeBron James to sports writers logged on to Twitter and lambasted the live show. 

https://twitter.com/fivefifths/status/1092233116457013248https://twitter.com/SnazzyQ/status/1092233581148033024

Perhaps the sharpest shot came from The Onion. The cheeky satire outlet tweeted a story titled, “Super Bowl Halftime Show Marred By Functioning Sound System.”

The NFL uploaded the full show to YouTube, where it received nearly 200,000 dislikes compared to just 26,000 likes in less than 24 hours. 

Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine responded to the savage reviews with grace on Instagram by thanking his fans and critics alike. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtcR7g5Dtg7

“We thank the universe for this historic opportunity to play on the world’s biggest stage,” he wrote. “We thank our fans for making our dreams possible. And we thank our critics for always pushing us to do better.”

The 39-year-old judge of NBC’s The Voice ended his post with a confused list of words like “forgive,” “sweat,” “preserve,” and “scream.”

It’s safe to say that Levine and co. probably won’t be taking the Super Bowl halftime show stage again.