Killers’ Flowers: ‘It would be an honor to represent our hometown’ in Super Bowl

Brandon Flowers’ favorite Super Bowl halftime show was U2’s in 2002. The Killers’ frontman would love to make it a beautiful day for his band at the first Super Bowl in Las Vegas.

Flowers has made it clear The Killers are in play to play Super Bowl LVIII in February at Allegiant Stadium.

“It would be such an honor to represent our hometown on one of the biggest stages in music,” Flowers said in a text message Thursday morning. “We love hearing that we’re up on top of people’s lists of who should perform.”

Vegas oddsmaker and sports-book guru Jay Kornegay of Westgate SuperBook has listed The Killers as a 12-1 favorite, followed by Imagine Dragons at 14-1, in his entertainment-purposes-only odds list.

And, know that the band has not (yet) been formally approached about performing. The Killers are currently on tour in the U.K. Their latest single, “Your Side of Town,” drops Friday.

Reps for Imagine Dragons, also a Vegas band with an international following, had no comment when asked if the NFL had been in contact about the halftime show. The Dragons are currently on tour in Germany.

Speculation has circulated around Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny and Jack Harlow for the ‘24 Super Bowl show. Lizzo’s legal troubles have reportedly knocked her from the list. Taylor Swift has made herself unavailable, with the most recent reports from Daily Mail that she’s too tied up in touring, and holding out for the day when the game plays Nashville. Ed Sheeran is also saying he’s not interested.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo went off the board Wednesday by endorsing AC/DC as the headliner.

Along with U2, previous rock acts to play the Super Bowl halftime show are Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Prince (who was everything, including rock), Tom Petty, Coldplay and Maroon 5. More recently, with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation producing the show, the focus has been on such pop and hip-hop artists as Shakira and Jennifer Lopez; Bad Bunny and J Balvin; The Weeknd; and Dre with Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent; and Rihanna.

U2 performed in the first Super Bowl after 9/11, playing “Beautiful Day,” “MLK”, and “Where the Streets Have No Name.” During the latter two songs, names of the 9/11 victims were projected onto a screen behind the stage of the Superdome. Bono then opened his jacket to show an American flag as the lining.

“A memorable and emotional halftime performance for me, personally,” Flowers said. “Pure magic.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.