This Sunday, people around the world will tune in to watch the Super Bowl for different reasons. For some, it is a chance to see the game they love played by talented people, for others with open or secret desires, it is the chance to see men in tight outfits fall all over each other and many only care about the commercials and who will be singing before the big American competition.
This year, the main anthem is up to artist and multiple Grammy winner Chris Stapleton. The 44-year-old has written for the likes of Adele in the past and has collaborated with Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars on the rock-tinged song “BLOW.” Stapleton is one of only about 40 people who have sang at the event through its history – other years have featured musical groups, orchestras and in 1977 no one sang the song at all. He has not commented on the coming moment as of this story’s filing and he will not be alone.
Those joining him include deaf actor and Oscar winner Troy Kotsur, who will be performing the anthem in American Sign Language and in addition singer and songwriter Babyface (Kenneth Brian Edmonds) will be on deck to sing “America the Beautiful.” Like Stapleton, Edmonds has won multiple Grammys and is considered one of the best music producers to have ever lived. Others involved in signing include Colin Denny for “America the Beautiful” and Justina Miles will sign “Lift Every Voice and Sing” alongside vocals from Golden Globe-nominated actress and Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph, and will also give the ASL version of the halftime show which will be put on by Rihanna after years away from music running her fashion business.
Some reading this may not be familiar with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and, for those who aren’t, the tune in existence for more than a century is known as the Black National Anthem. It was commonly sung in Black communities during earlier and more intense eras of segregation and racism and was promoted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as early as 1919. While some have criticized the idea the song — which does not overtly refer to any specific race — can come across as discriminatory when given the designation, the N.F.L. announced in 2021 it would play it before games and clearly continues to do so as part of efforts it announced after George Floyd’s death to combat societal racism.
Stapleton clearly has a lot of pressure and, whether he and the others will be as good as Whitney Houston remains to be seen.