Super Bowl LIV Broadcast Featured Songs by Grateful Dead, Phish

Jeff Cornell
·3 min read

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It’s not a soundtrack one would expect to be affiliated with the NFL, but during the regular season, and even more so throughout the playoffs, the music of Phish has been used in multiple bumpers heading into commercial breaks on Fox.

In fact, during last night’s Super Bowl, Fox played clips of Phish’s “Character Zero” and “Free,” as well as the Grateful Dead classic “Bertha,” which was a slam dunk nod to the San Francisco 49ers. Fans of the Dead and Phish quickly took to Twitter to celebrate and share hearing the band’s music in and out of commercials.

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Jambase posted clips of “Free” from the first half of the game last night and “Character Zero” from the second half.

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After “Character Zero”and “Bertha” in the first half, Super Bowl viewers are treated to “Free” #phish #gratefuldead

A post shared by JamBase (@jambase) on Feb 2, 2020 at 6:04pm PST

 

Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux took to Twitter to post a clip of the band’s “Bertha” featured during the game.

Before the game, Bob Weir shared the Grateful Dead’s classic “Steal Your Face” logo with his hometown San Francisco 49ers logo in the middle.

Weir was on hand at the game in Miami and posted some photos on Twitter, as well as a congratulatory note to the Kansas City Chiefs, who won their first Super Bowl in 50 years beating the 49ers 31-20.

Phish’s music has made several NFL appearances on Fox this season. Back in November, during a New York Jets vs. Baltimore Ravens game on Fox, the band’s “Tweezer” was used, and in December “Chalk Dust Torture” was played as a bumper during a Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday Night match up.

Prior to Super Bowl LI, Phish’s “Tweezer Reprise,” was used as the music for a hype video for the Atlanta Falcons.

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