For Super Bowl LV, the NFL didn’t get one Grammy-nominated singer to perform the national anthem — they got two from different backgrounds. At the site of arguably the greatest performance ever 30 years ago, the national anthem has turned into one of the game’s biggest spectacles and potential money-makers.
Who is singing the national anthem this year at the Super Bowl?
Prior to Super Bowl LV’s kickoff, country star Eric Church and R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan will perform the national anthem.
R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan has 12 total Grammy nominations. Her debut album Fearless earned seven nominations. Country singer Eric Church is a seven-time ACM Award winner, four-time CMA Award winner, and 10-time Grammy nominee. Church’s hit singles include “Some of It,” “Give Me Back My Hometown,” “Springsteen,” and “Drink in My Hand.”
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While some might see the blending of a country artist and an R&B artist as slightly confusing, it leads to a more profound message. The NFL chose both Church and Sullivan to be a message of unity with the eyes of a nation affixed on the game.
The duo has large shoes to fill as Tampa is the site of what is widely considered the most incredible performance of the national anthem in history. In 1991, in the midst of the Gulf War, Whitney Houston set the standard against which all other Star-Spangled Banner performances are judged.
Of the duo, Sullivan is the only one who has performed the Star-Spangled Banner before. That information might be essential for those putting wagers on this event.
The national anthem prop bet is one of the biggest of the Super Bowl
It’s almost tradition at this point to place a bet on the over or under for the national anthem’s length at Super Bowl 55.
Depending on which sportsbook you find yourself on, it is around two minutes, give or take a few seconds. The national anthem performance has averaged 1:54 in length. The shortest was Neil Diamond in Super Bowl XXI (1:02); the longest was Alicia Keys’ rendition (2:35) for Super Bowl LVII.
We need to remember that the length is judged from the first note to the last note of the word “brave.” We don’t need another fiasco like there was in Super Bowl LIII with Gladys Knight adding several gratuitous “braves” in at the end. After all, we need to not lie about the length of things.
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As for both Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan, there is a mixed bag of film to study. Church has not been on record performing the national anthem before. He is the wild card. Sullivan, however, has before. She clocked in with a time of 1:38 at the NHL Stadium Series game in 2016, and for a 76ers game in 2014, she took 1:44-1:49. She said “brave” twice.
Does Church equal an additional 20 seconds? That’s what potential bettors will have to ask themselves.
Is Amanda Gorman reading a poem before the Super Bowl?
The world of football and poetry will combine for the first time during Super Bowl LV. Amanda Gorman, 22, the nation’s youngest-ever poet laureate who gained national praise at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, will recite an original poem before Super Bowl LV.
Gorman stole the show on what was arguably the most significant day in our nation’s history in several years. Her poem titled “The Hill We Climb” captivated the country as it addressed the current climate.
She will recite an original poem to honor Trimaine Davis, an educator, Suzie Dorner, a nurse, and James Martin, a Marine veteran. The trio embodies the NFL’s message of “it takes all of us.”
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Tommy Garrett is a writer for Pro Football Network covering the NFL and fantasy football. You can read more of his work here and follow him at @TommygarrettPFN on Twitter.