When celebs sing the American National Anthem, the internet always laps it up, whether it’s Demi Lovato’s pitch-perfect a capella version on the World Series pitch or *that* god-awful Fergie vid. But when Kentucky’s country legend, Chris Stapleton, took to the pitch at the Super Bowl LVII, he stripped away the Hollywood egomania of his predecessors for a viral moment like no other.
Chris’ version at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium has racked up over 8.8M views to date, and we at the Music Man can easily understand why. With a black Fender Telecaster slung around his neck, Chris rejected the a cappella standard for celeb singers, lining his smoking cool voice with a clean, fingerpicked riff that conjured such an otherworldly atmosphere, one pro sportsman could be seen completely moved to tears.
That’s not to say Chris didn’t absolutely nail the vocals in his instrumental rendition. His raspy voice ran thick with Southern comfort as he belted the anthem to his solo guitar work, packing his voice with pure soul. Truly authentic and 100% spellbinding.
As the ten-time Grammy Award winner showed the celeb world how it’s done, Oscar winner and deaf from birth American Sign Language interpreter, Troy Kotsur, joined Chris on the Super Bowl pitch to translate the National Anthem lyrics live. They were also joined by the Armed Forces Color Guard and drummers from “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. Aged 44 at the time of this gig, Chris’s new gold-standard Super Bowl show anticipated the release of his fifth studio album, Higher, which dropped in the last chunk of 2023.
If you’re not a country music buff, Chris’s rise to country stardom is a feat in itself. After around fourteen years as a Nashville songwriter and skipping between semi-successful bands, Chris Stapleton’s debut solo album, “Traveller,” finally hit the scene when the singer-songwriter was a ripe 37 years of age. After winning three career-defining awards at the 2015 Country Music Association award show, the signature cowboy-hatted musician has been making genre history ever since, while featuring on countless crossover collabs including those with Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Adele and Snoop Dogg.
After Chris opened the game, Rihanna took the rein of the 47th Super Bowl’s historic halftime show, performing her first gig in over five years, pregnant, in a vermilion red combo and singing a medley of career hits from a high, floating platform.
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