Lady Gaga recalls 'silly decision' to catch a football during Super Bowl halftime show

Just weeks away from Super Bowl LVI, Lady Gaga joined Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday, where she spoke about her halftime performance five years ago at Super Bowl LI. More specifically, Gaga talked about her decision to catch a bedazzled football as part of the show.

“Playing the Super Bowl is a huge honor, and I remember — and I got the phone call to play the show, I just cried. I just cried and ran around my room,” Gaga said. “And then I don't know why I made a very silly decision to decide to try to catch a touchdown at the end.”

Gaga said that during rehearsals, catching a ball as part of her show was not looking like a winning idea.

“I wanted to jump in and jump out of the performance because I thought it was compositionally interesting,” Gaga said. “So I was so super excited to catch this football, but four out of five times that we practiced it, I didn't get it.”

But instead of having someone from her team throw her the ball during the performance, Gaga got an actual quarterback to do it, and everything went off without a hitch, and Gaga was well aware of the consequences had things gone poorly.

“Did you ever think, like, ‘If I miss, if this ball bounces off my head, everyone’s gonna laugh at me for a long time?’” Kimmel asked. “Oh, I knew the headline would be, like, you know, ‘The Patriots win and Lady Gaga loses’,” Gaga said. “Like, ‘Stick to singing, honey.’”

Video Transcript

LADY GAGA: Playing the Super Bowl is a huge honor, and I was-- I remember when I got the phone call to play the show I just cried. I just cried and ran around my room. And then I don't know why I made a very silly decision to decide to try to catch a touchdown.

KYLIE MAR: With Super Bowl 56 right around the corner, Lady Gaga joined "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Monday where she spoke about her performance at the Super Bowl 51 halftime show. Gaga specifically talked about her decision to jump off stage and catch a pass.

LADY GAGA: Super Bowl 51!

KYLIE MAR: Gaga's high-flying performance went off without a hitch, but her decision to catch a football wasn't a winner during rehearsal.

LADY GAGA: I wanted to jump in and jump out of the performance as I thought it was compositionally interesting. So I was so super excited to catch this football, but four out of five times that we practiced it I didn't-- didn't get it.

KYLIE MAR: Gaga said they fixed that issue by having an actual quarterback throw her the ball. And she wanted to make sure everyone knew she caught it.

LADY GAGA: It was funny because I-- no one could see, but I landed in this giant foam pit like that you would like see at a gym or something. And we landed in the pit and I went, did I catch it? I caught it. I caught it! Did they get it? Did they get it on camera? Did the people see it?

KYLIE MAR: And Gaga was well aware of what was on the line that night.

JIMMY KIMMEL: Did you ever think like-- like if I miss-- if this ball bounces off my head, everyone's going to laugh at me for a long time?

LADY GAGA: Oh, I knew the headline would be like, you know, the Patriots win and Lady Gaga loses. You know, it's like, stick-- stick to singing, honey.