The NFL announced that country star Eric Church and R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan will sing the National Anthem as part of the Super Bowl LV pregame festivities on Feb. 7, while Grammy-winning R&B artist H.E.R. will sing “America the Beautiful.”
While it is unclear whether Church and Sullivan will be trading verses or harmonizing, the intended message of teaming up a white country singer with a Black R&B artist to sing the National Anthem at a time of social unrest is clear. The Super Bowl is traditionally the most-watched U.S. television broadcast of the year, drawing an estimated 102 million viewers in 2020.
The game, which features the Weeknd as Halftime performer, takes place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Fla., and will air nationally on CBS.
Church and Sullivan (pictured, far right and center, respectively) will join a prestigious line of previous Super Bowl National Anthem performers, including Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Demi Lovato, Luke Bryan, Diana Ross, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Joel, Pink, Jordin Sparks, Idina Menzel, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, and Neil Diamond. This year, the National Anthem will be arranged by Emmy-nominated producer Adam Blackstone.
Church is a seven-time ACM Award winner, four-time CMA Award winner and a 10-time Grammy, whose most recent album,“Desperate Man,” is up for a 2021 Grammy in the Best Country Album category. Sullivan is an eight-time Grammy nominee who released her fourth studio album, “Heaux Tales,” earlier this month.
H.E.R. (pictured, left) joins “America the Beautiful” performers such as Yolanda Adams, Leslie Odom Jr, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Alicia Keys. She has won two Grammys and is up for another in 2021 for her moving, topical single “I Can’t Breathe.”
In addition, on behalf of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Warren “Wawa” Snipe, a deaf rapper and recording artist, will perform the National Anthem and America the Beautiful in American Sign Language.
The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show, headlined by the Weekend, will be produced by DPS with Roc Nation and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton serving as director. Roc Nation is also serving as the strategic entertainment advisors of the live performance.
