Honda Battle of the Bands
The Honda Battle of the Bands is an annual marching band exhibition in the United States which features performances by bands from historically black colleges and universities. Sponsored by the American Honda Motor Company, the Invitational Showcase takes place in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia in late January.
The Honda Battle of the Bands Celebration Tour takes place between the months of September and November at regular season football games, although Honda Battle of the Bands is often intended to refer only to the invitational showcase, which first took place in 2003. Seemingly contradictory to the name, Honda's "battle" is not a competition in the traditional sense; that is, no winner is crowned during the event. Rather, the bands compete for the favor of the audience, each other, and the greater community.
The event is the most popular collegiate marching band event in the nation, drawing over 50,000 fans and spectators annually.
Participation
The Honda Battle of the Bands program includes two components — the Voting Process, which runs September through October, and the "Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase".Voting:
The first band will be selected by popular vote.
The next three bands will be selected, one from each category by a weighted vote of 1/3 from institution president, band director and online opinion poll from category I, II and III. The categories being 128 instruments or less, 129 instruments up to 160 and 161 or more. This count is total instrument count, no auxiliaries, drum majors, etc. but will include percussion.
Note: Presidents and Band Directors are not permitted to vote for their own institutions.
American Honda and Urban Sports & Entertainment Group will select the final four bands based on, but not limited to:
Once all the votes are tallied, a total of 8 bands are invited to perform their carefully choreographed, halftime time routines in front of 50,000+ fans.
History
Started in 2003, the Honda Battle of the Bands was created to celebrate, support and recognize the excellence of Black college marching bands and the unique academic experience offered by Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Honda annually awards more than $205,000 in grants to participating marching bands during the program period and facilitates a HBCU recruitment fair preceding the band showcase.The following HBCUs have participated in the Honda Invitational Showcase:
| Year | CIAA | MEAC | SIAC | SWAC | Independents |
| 2003 | Johnson C. Smith | Florida A&M | Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, Tuskegee | Grambling | Morris Brown, Tennessee State |
| 2004 | Johnson C. Smith, Virginia State | Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M | Clark Atlanta, Tuskegee | Alabama State, Prairie View A&M | Savannah State, Tennessee State |
| 2005 | North Carolina Central, Virginia State | Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M | Clark Atlanta, Tuskegee | Alabama A&M, Prairie View A&M | Langston, Savannah State |
| 2006 | North Carolina Central, Virginia State | Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M | Clark Atlanta, Tuskegee | Jackson State, Prairie View A&M | Central State, Langston |
| 2007 | NC Central, Virginia State | Bethune-Cookman, Norfolk State | Albany State, Clark Atlanta | Alabama State, Prairie View A&M | Central State, Langston |
| 2008 | Virginia State, Shaw | Bethune-Cookman, Norfolk State | Albany State, Tuskegee | Texas Southern, Arkansas–Pine Bluff | North Carolina Central, Winston-Salem State |
| 2009 | Fayetteville State, Virginia State | Florida A&M, North Carolina A&T | Kentucky State, Tuskegee | Jackson State, Texas Southern | Edward Waters, North Carolina Central |
| 2010 | Virginia State | Florida A&M | Albany State, Clark Atlanta, Tuskegee | Prairie View A&M, Southern | North Carolina Central |
| 2011 | Virginia State, Winston-Salem State | Bethune-Cookman, South Carolina State | Albany State, Clark Atlanta | Jackson State | Tennessee State |
| 2012 | Virginia State, Winston-Salem State | Bethune-Cookman, South Carolina State | Albany State | Jackson State, Prairie View A&M | Tennessee State |
| 2013 | Winston-Salem State | Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T | Albany State | Alcorn State, Jackson State | Edward Waters, Tennessee State |
| 2014 | Winston-Salem State | Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State | Morehouse | Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Arkansas–Pine Bluff | None |
| 2015 | None | Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T, Howard | None | Alabama State, Jackson State, Southern | Talladega, Tennessee State |
| 2016 | Lincoln | Bethune-Cookman, South Carolina State | None | Alabama A&M, Alcorn State, Jackson State, Prairie View A&M | Tennessee State |
| 2017 | Winston-Salem State | Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T | Benedict College | Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Alcorn State, Texas Southern | None |
| 2018 | None | Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T, Hampton | Miles College | Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Prairie View A&M | Tennessee State |
| 2020 | None | Florida A&M, North Carolina A&T | Benedict College | Jackson State, Grambling State, Prairie View A&M | Hampton, Tennessee State |
In 2018, Honda announced that the Battle of the Bands would be on a one-year hiatus in 2019, due to Super Bowl LIII being held in Atlanta. The event resumed in 2020.
In 2020, Honda announced the Battle of the Bands will be on a one-year hiatus in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trivia
- The fictitious BET Big Southern Classic from the 2002 film Drumline was similar to the HBOB, with the main difference that the Big Southern Classic was a competition with a declared winner. The HBOB is an invitational showcase and there are usually no official winners.
- In 2014, HBOB declared an official winner for the first time and it was North Carolina A&T's marching band. HBOB has only declared an official winner once in the history of the event.
- With 13 appearances, Bethune-Cookman University's marching band leads with the most invitations to the HBOB.