Superstar Chris Stapleton represented country music at the Super Bowl, giving fans a soulful rendition of the National Anthem.
Stapleton is the eight-time Grammy winner who follows in a long line of country performers to sing the anthem before the world’s biggest football game.
Stapleton’s version was so emotional, it made Eagles coach Nick Sirianni cry.
The pre-game performers represented a number of genres. Babyface performed “America the Beautiful.” And Emmy-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, who also owns a Tony, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Meanwhile, actor Troy Kotsur, an Arizona native and Academy-award winner, joined Stapleton for the anthem. He performed the song in American Sign Language.
Pop star Rihanna will perform the halftime show.
Let’s get back to Chris Stapleton, who is starting a stadium tour in the spring. The Super Bowl loves to feature country singers in pre-game. Last year, Mickey Guyton performed the Star Spangled Banner, giving it a gospel vibe.
In 2021, Eric Church joined Jazmine Sullivan for the anthem. Other country stars who have performed the national anthem include Garth Brooks in 1993, Faith Hill (2000), the Chicks (2003), Carrie Underwood (2010) and Luke Bryan (2017).
Listening to Chris Stapleton sing always is a joy, but the national anthem has Super Bowl importance as well. After all, gambling sites take bets on how long a performer will sing. The over/under for Stapleton was 2 minutes, 7 seconds. It appeared Stapleton was under, coming in at 2:01. He held the final note for seven fabulous seconds.
