A leather-clad Beyonce eclipsed even the multi-million selling clout of Coldplay at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, as she and Bruno Mars joined the British rockers onstage in Santa Clara.

The 34 year old star briefly had the stage all to herself as she delivered a rendition of brand new single ‘Formation’, released just 24 hours before, with her backing dancers’ costumes seemingly heavily influenced by the armed rights group the Black Panthers, clad in black leather and berets.

Bruno and Beyoncé and all your teams. Thank you. We love you so much. Love Coldplay

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It was certainly the highlight of what many onlookers thought to be a rather flat show centred around Coldplay, and their latest album A Head Full of Dreams. After an opening salvo of full performances of classic hits ‘Viva La Vida’ and ‘Paradise’ that left many nonplussed, recent single ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ got an outing before the guest stars made their way onstage.

First, Bruno Mars came on to deliver a rousing ‘Uptown Funk!’, a song that still retains appeal despite everyone having heard it a thousand times already. Then it was the turn of Beyonce, who delivered a brutal one-two of ‘Formation’ and classic single ‘Crazy in Love’.

Beyoncé! #SB50 #PepsiHalftime

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More: Beyonce unleashes surprise single ‘Formation’ ahead of Super Bowl performance

Coldplay then regained control of the situation with a medley incorporating their own hits ‘Clocks’, ‘Fix You’ and ‘Midnight’, as well as his guest stars’ hits ‘Independent Women’ and ‘Just the Way You Are’. Finally, all three artists came together for ‘Up&Up’, the closing track from Coldplay’s recent album.

A few hours before that, the national anthem was sung by Lady GaGa, which received a much better reception generally from reviewers and fans. Delivering a gospel-influenced take on ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ dressed in a glittering red suit and matching eye shadow, many were surprised that Gaga could even sing in the way she did.

A video posted by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on

Billboard pointed out later that the performance makes Gaga the first artist in history to perform at the Oscars, Grammys and the Super Bowl in the space of one year.

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