Some of the Super Bowl’s biggest moments have nothing to do with first downs or field goals. The big game has also given us some unforgettable musical performances throughout the years. In particular, country star Chris Stapleton’s 2023 rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is mentioned in the same breath as Whitney Houston when talking about the greatest Super Bowl national anthem performances of all time. Possibly convinced he could never top it, Chris Stapleton says he has officially retired from performing the national anthem just two years after his Super Bowl performance.
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Will Chris Stapleton Sing the National Anthem at Another Super Bowl?
Taking center field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, all Chris Stapleton wanted was “to not mess up” his Super Bowl LVII national anthem performance.
Recently, the CMA’s eight-time Male Vocalist of the Year opened up to Dale Earnhardt Jr. about the historic experience during an appearance on the Dirty Mo Media podcast.
“That was my goal… to get through it to a degree where I executed the national anthem without insulting the national anthem,” said Stapleton, 46.
[RELATED: The Length of Each Super Bowl National Anthem Performance Over the Past 10 Years]
Safe to say, mission accomplished—and then some. The “Tennessee Whiskey” crooner managed to deliver an understated performance that still overflowed with raw emotion. “He didn’t ‘perform’ this, he sang it from his soul,” one YouTube user gushed.
It was Stapleton’s first time to perform the national anthem—and, apparently, his last. “I would have people ask me to sing the the national anthem for various things, and I jokingly always said, ‘No, I’ll just do it when it’s time to do it at the Super Bowl,’” he said. “And I just turned it down a lot, and I do say now that I’ve officially retired from it as well.”
The Man Stays Humble
Despite objectively delivering a Super Bowl national anthem rendition for the history books, Chris Stapleton refuses to take all the credit.
“I’m not saying my version wasn’t good. I think it was good,” the 10-time GRAMMY Award winner told Earnhardt Jr. “But all the TV editing that they did while I was doing it was just spot on.”
He continued, “Everything that they did to make that moment feel as big and nice as it could—they did it, and they executed it flawlessly.”
Featured image by Jon SooHoo/UPI/Shutterstock
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