Post Malone Brings Grit to the Super Bowl With Emotional ‘America the Beautiful’ Performance

Post Malone unleashed his own brand of patriotism at Sunday’s Super Bowl with a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful.”

Wearing a brown blazer, white shirt, a bolo tie and jeans, the rapper and singer fingerpicked an acoustic guitar for a sincere rendition of the standard. His voice had lots of reverb and there was instrumentation backing his vocals, including plenty of pedal steel. Malone showed a singing strength many casual fans may not have witnessed before. Taylor Swift and Blake Lively were spotted on cameras slow dancing together to the song, which got a warm reception from the crowd.

Prior to the game, Malone discussed the performance in an interview with Apple Music’s Nadeska Alexis.

“I’m very nervous,” he said. “But excited. I’m excited. It’s just fun and super epic to be able to go out there and sing a song so many beautiful artists have sang before on this stage.”

“I’m just gonna do my best, just do my best, and give it what I got,” Malone continued. “My dad told me, ‘You’ll never make everybody happy. So just be yourself and do your best at everything you do.’ Do it your way and do it with love.”

Malone released his fifth studio album, “Austin,” in July. He wrapped up his most recent set of live dates in the “If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying Tour” in December.

Malone is not the only musical act taking over the Super Bowl. Also kicking off the big game was Reba McEntire, singing the National Anthem, and Andra Day with a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Meanwhile, Usher is the halftime show performer.

Watch Malone’s performance below.