Adam Levine: Maroon 5 would 'like to move on' from Super Bowl controversy
As the clock counts down to Super Bowl Sunday, Adam Levine, the frontman for this year's halftime show headliner Maroon 5, wants fans to know that he's thankful to play what he called "the biggest gig in the game."
Levine and Maroon 5 have faced months of criticism after signing onto the Super Bowl halftime show, which unfolds Sunday in Atlanta. More than 100,000 fans signed a change.org petition urging the band to drop out of the show well before they even confirmed they were playing.
"I'm not in the right profession if I can't handle a little bit of controversy," Levine told "Entertainment Tonight" Thursday about how he's dealing with the fracas. "It's what it is. We expected it. We'd like to move on from it and speak through the music."
Ultimately, Levine said, “The spectacle is the music. The way that we speak is through the music. The way that we emote and perform is through the music."
He added he consulted many people before making the decision to perform amid the controversy over the NFL's handling of players like Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem. "I silenced all the noise and listened to myself and made my decision based upon how I felt."
He says the band is doing the show to make sure people of color and others who don't feel like their voices are being heard understand, "We got you."
He added, "They will be heard – that's all I want to say because I don't want to spoil anything."
Earlier this week, Levine announced that the band, the NFL and Interscope Records were making a joint $500,000 donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a gift he said "will have a major impact for children across the country."
He also promised that hip-hop will be a big part of the show and noted the participation of rapper Travis Scott. (Outkast's Big Boi, an Atlanta native, will also take part.)
"This is the show that’s gonna have the biggest hip-hop presence that there’s ever been on the show,” Levine said. “I can’t look back and find that to have been the case before. So, (Travis) is it. He’s the man right now and he comes in hot.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Adam Levine: Maroon 5 would 'like to move on' from Super Bowl controversy
