The band raced through hits like Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling and Let's Get It Started, while guitarist Slash joined them for a brief version of Sweet Child O' Mine, and Usher also took the stadium stage to perform his hit OMG.

And the performance was an emotional one for bandmember will.i.am - he admitted before the show he was battling both nerves and tears.

In a series of posts on his Twitter.com page, he wrote, "We are about to get dressed now for the show. 'Uh oh' here comes the nervousness, I never get nervous... what are these butterflies doing here?

"I've played so many shows... I played 1 million people in brazil, the World Cup for 1 billion. And I'm so nervous for the Superbowl. 'I feel like crying', this is so special for us.

"Me and (bandmate) apl started the peas when we were 16... We were dreamin, now we're livin it. 'wow'... I'm not crying out of sadness or nervousness, it's joy and pride and memories and the journey..."