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14th Feb 2022

Dr Dre paid subtle tribute to Tupac in Super Bowl halftime show

Charlie Herbert

There had been plenty of speculation surrounding a Tupac tribute on the night

Dr Dre. paid tribute to the late Tupac Shakur during his incredible Super Bowl halftime show this weekend.

During the interval at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Dre was joined by Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and even 50 Cent for a show of wall-to-wall classics and anthems.

And with the show taking place in California and featuring two of Tupac’s friends and collaborators, many had wondered whether there would be any nods to the great rapper who was murdered in a drive-by shooting in 1996.

There had even been rumours of a hologram of him appearing during the performance – but in the end, Dre’s tribute to his friend was much more subtle and poignant.

During a slower part of the show, Dre sat down at a piano and played the first few bars of Tupac’s hit “I Ain’t Mad At Cha.”

It was an emotional moment in a halftime show that many are saying challenges for the title of the greatest Super Bowl halftime performance of all time.

One person said: “Dre went from teasing Tupac’s remarkable classic ? ???’? ??? ???ℎ? to closing the curtains with Still D.R.E. and bruh, I stood up in my living room and gave him an ovation…

“Because every minute of their collaborative effort was amazing.”

Another person wrote: “For a split second, when DRE started playing the I aint Mad at Ya melody, I thought the Tupac Hologram was bout to start performing. F***.”

A third added: “Heard that tribute to #Tupac #2Pac on the piano. Hell ya Dre.”

It would not have been unprecedented for a hologram of Tupac to appear during the performance, with Dre joined on stage by one at Coachella just a few years ago.

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