Heavy/Getty Reba McEntire will perform the national anthem at Super Bowl LVIII
When Usher delivers the halftime show at Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024, he won’t be the only member of “The Voice” family performing. The NFL just announced that Reba McEntire will also be there to sing the national anthem.
Shortly after the announcement, in an interview with CBS This Morning on January 18, McEntire revealed that when the opportunity came up, her football-loving boyfriend insisted that she say yes.
Here’s what you need to know:
Reba McEntire Has Never Performed at the Super Bowl
The NFL announced that before the big game in Las Vegas, McEntire, who just wrapped her first season as a coach on “The Voice,” will sing the anthem, Post Malone will perform “America the Beautiful” and Andra Day will sing “Lift Every Voice.”
McEntire told Gayle King and Nate Burleson on “CBS This Morning” that although it will be her first time performing at the Super Bowl, she has lots of practice singing the national anthem.
“Guys, I’ve been singing the national anthem since…well, a long time,” she said. “But I started singing the national anthem in 1974 at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. I sang the national anthem there for 10 years.”
“How you get ready for it,” she continued, “(is) you just warm up like you do a concert and sing it about five or six times, and get in there and do it.”
McEntire tweeted a photo of her singing the anthem in the 70s and wrote, “How I met y’all.” Next to that photo, she posted a promotional image from the NFL about her upcoming performance and wrote, “I’m still here.”
How I met y’all. I’m still here.
McEntire, 68, said that when she was invited to perform at the Super Bowl, it was an opportunity that her beau, Rex Linn, insisted she take on. The two have been dating since 2020, according to Us Weekly.
“I got the news from my manager, Justin McIntosh,” she said. “He said that they wanted me to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl and I said, ‘Oh my gosh! Well let me think about that.’ And Rex Linn, my boyfriend, who is a huge football fan, he said, ‘Yes! She’ll do it! Absolutely!'”
Fans Thrilled By News of Reba McEntire’s Upcoming Super Bowl Appearance
Fans flooded McEntire’s social media posts about her Super Bowl news with their reactions to the news, including many who think the country music legend should have been tapped for the halftime show.
“You should have been the halftime show,” wrote one, “but I will watch just for your voice singing The National Anthem.”
Another tweeted, “Oh wow. What an honor!!! You will kill it girl!! They will LOVE it too. Us Americans need this right now. Love you Reba”
When the NFL posted the news of its star-studded pre-game performances, many people applauded the choice of McEntire for the anthem.
One wrote, “Will watch this Super Bowl just to hear Reba and get goosebumps 😍”
Super Bowl LVIII will air on CBS and Nickelodeon, and be available for streaming on Paramount+, on February 11 starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, according to CBS Sports. Usher, who was a coach on “The Voice” on seasons 4 and 6, is slated to perform the halftime show.