The Super Bowl LV started on Sunday with the presentation of HER’s “America the Beautiful”, which accompanied patriotic music on the electric guitar.
.@HERMusicx sings America The Beautiful! #SBLV pic.twitter.com/X5cxxotkwQ
– NFL (@NFL) February 7, 2021
Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan did a duet with “The Star-Spangled Banner” – it was the first time in 15 years that the NFL championship game featured a collaborative interpretation of the song. Church led the interpretation with a vibrant electric guitar, Sullivan joining “wide stripes and bright stars”. They sang in unison in the “red glow of rockets” as fireworks exploded over the stadium. As they brought the music home, a trio of jets cut across the sky. The duo of the National Anthem marked the first time that Church and Sullivan performed together.
In an Apple Music interview (via Tennessean) after the announcement of the duet “Star-Spangled Banner”, Church said of Sullivan: “She can be the best singer. I was shocked. I’m a fan. I went in and heard everything she did. And I had heard her name, but full disclosure, I had not heard. “
.@jsullivanmusic and @ericchurch sing the National Anthem before #SBLV! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dnhOTrHKfW
– NFL (@NFL) February 7, 2021
Church, admittedly more of a stylist than a singer, said he was reluctant to present the anthem, but “then I heard [Sullivan] and I’m not missing a chance to sing with her. And that was it. As soon as I heard her voice, I said, ‘OK, I’m in.’ ”
In recent years, Demi Lovato, Gladys Knight, Luke Bryan, Lady Gaga and Pink presented the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. This year marks the first collaborative version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” since the 2006 presentation by Dr. John, Aaron Neville and Aretha Franklin.
Church recently announced plans to release a trio of new albums – collectively dubbed Heart and Soul – throughout 2021, with the country star debuting new songs “Heart on Fire” and “Lynyrd Skynyrd Jones” in recent weeks.
In January, Sullivan released his fourth album Heaux Tales, which Rolling Stone praised in his four-star review for adding “more nuances to ordinary romance stories, changing narrative lenses to offer more perspectives on the messy business of love, sex and everything.”
HER, more recently, his new song “Fight for You”, a track off the soundtrack of the next film Judas and the Black Messiah.