While the teams that will play in the upcoming Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta are still to be determined, we already know the majority of other participants in the event. After the National Football Association previously confirmed that Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Outkast’s Big Boi will perform at the halftime show, we now learned that Gladys Knight will also take part in the spectacle. The Atlanta-native singer will have the honor to perform the national anthem.
The NFL revealed that Knight will perform the “The Star-Spangled Banner” at
“I hope that this National Anthem will touch people in a different way,” the 74-year-old “Midnight Train to Georgia” singer said in the clip. “We’ve been singing it forever. But this time, I would hope that they would feel it so deeply that it would lift them to a higher place. That’s what I feel when I sing this song.”
Gladys Knight later shared the announcement with her Twitter followers and issued a short statement.
“I am proud to use my voice to unite and represent our country in my hometown of Atlanta. The NFL recently announced their new social justice platform Inspire Change, and I am honored to be a part of its inaugural year,” said the statement.
During her illustrious career, Gladys Knight, who is nicknamed “Empress of Soul,” received seven Grammy Awards and numerous other achievements. She has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the R&B/soul group Gladys Knight & the Pips while being named one of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by the Rolling Stone magazine.
Knight will join numerous other notable music acts who had the chance to perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl, including Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Cher, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston among others.
