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Donnie Wahlberg’s later comments suggest he felt ambivalent about New Kids on the Block’s 1991 Super Bowl halftime performance—not that the entire group “hated” it. He said he was unsure how much pride he took in the performance itself, but proud the group was first to do it. He also said he was grateful ABC aired Gulf War coverage instead of showing the performance live.
What Donnie Wahlberg said about the show
In a 2016 report about his interview with Playboy, Glamour quoted Wahlberg: “I don’t know how much pride I take in the actual performance,” followed by, “But I take pride in the fact that we were the first ones to do it.”
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The two thoughts belong together. Wahlberg drew a distinction between his feelings about the performance and his pride in the group’s place in Super Bowl halftime history. The comments are his own; they do not establish how the other members felt.
Why the performance was not seen live on ABC
Super Bowl XXV took place in Tampa on January 27, 1991. The halftime show was produced under Walt Disney World’s Creative Entertainment division, with New Kids on the Block and 1,600 local children, according to a contemporary United Press International report published by the Los Angeles Times. The theme was “A Small World Salute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl,” and the group performed “It’s a Small World,” according to Sports Illustrated.
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ABC aired Gulf War coverage instead of the halftime performance live. In a separate retrospective account, Sports Illustrated reported that Wahlberg was grateful for that decision. His relief about the television broadcast does not, by itself, show that he disliked performing at the stadium.
What the show meant in halftime history
The group’s pride in being first points to a real milestone, even if Wahlberg had reservations about the performance. The Associated Press account of halftime-show history describes the NFL’s early-1990s effort to bring more popular music to halftime. New Kids on the Block performed in 1991, followed by Gloria Estefan the next year; Michael Jackson’s 1993 appearance marked a breakthrough in the modern pop-spectacle era.
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Do not confuse the show with the later lip-sync controversy
A separate 1992 controversy involved allegations about recorded vocals. The Los Angeles Times reported that the group sang live on The Arsenio Hall Show while responding to the allegations, and members acknowledged that recordings had augmented dance-heavy concert performances in the past. That later report does not establish that the 1991 Super Bowl performance was lip-synced.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does the evidence show that the group hated the show?
No group-wide statement in the cited accounts establishes that all the members hated the performance. The clearest reported assessment is Wahlberg’s mixed one: limited pride in the performance itself, pride in the group’s pioneering place, and gratitude that the show was not aired live on ABC. “Hated” is therefore too broad a description of what the available accounts support.
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