Chris Stapleton released his powerful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” performed live from Super Bowl LVII earlier this year, on Friday (June 30). The track’s release comes just in time for people to celebrate the Fourth of July.
Stapleton’s soulful performance of the National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl reduced some listeners, including Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, to tears (the award-winning country artist, however, likely wouldn’t see Sirianni’s reaction, as he previously said in an interview with ET that he tries “not to watch myself back too much.”
The “Broken Halos” megastar said in an interview a few days before the big game that performing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl is “one of those calls you think you’re not gonna get. And then you get the call and you’re like, ‘Okay, let’s do this!’ I think I said it [wanted to perform the National Anthem] ‘cause I thought I wouldn’t get asked. The National Anthem’s not an easy song for singers, 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. But yeah, no, if you’re gonna do it, this is the place to do it.”
Stapleton’s rendition, of course, was far from “horribly wrong.” The viral performance quickly drew praise from fellow country artists and fans, and continued to do so as Stapleton announced the track’s release on his social media channels on Friday. Some Instagram users wrote, “This song was written to be sung exactly like Chris did. No one will do it better. Ever,” “Never before in my life have I listened to a national anthem two times in a row for sheer enjoyment,” “probably should just perform it at the super bowl every year,” and “I would have paid for superbowl tickets just to watch this live. Unmatched,” to name a few.
Find Stapleton’s “The Star-Spangled Banner (Live from Super Bowl LVII)” on iHeartRadio here.