On a typical Super Bowl Sunday, Chris Stapleton would be “sitting at home with the kids on the couch,” having snacks and watching the game.
Of course this year, he won’t be doing that: he’ll be at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, performing the national anthem before the Chiefs take on the Eagles.
In a news conference Thursday alongside actress Sheryl Lee Ralph — who’ll do “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — and Babyface — who’ll perform “America the Beautiful” — Chris said he definitely views it as a career milestone.
“It’s one of those calls you think you’re not gonna get,” he admitted. “And then you get the call and you’re like, ‘Okay, let’s do this!'”
Chris had previously said the Super Bowl is the only place he’d want to attempt the notoriously difficult “Star Spangled Banner.”
“The national anthem’s not an easy song for singers,” he points out, “and it’s one that can go horribly wrong as we’ve seen many times in the past.”
“Hopefully it won’t happen for me, knock on wood,” he adds. “But yeah, if you’re gonna do it, this is the place to do it.”
So what will Stapleton’s twist on the anthem be?
“I’m gonna go out there and play, and play it like I would play it. If that’s a twist, then so be it,” he laughs.
Kickoff for Super Bowl LVII is at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Rihanna‘s set to perform the halftime show.
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