Brandi Carlile has given her share of big-spot performances. From the Grammys to Glastonbury, the homegrown folk rock star has touched plenty of stages commanding intense spotlights. But none as bright as Sunday, when she\u2019ll sing \u201cAmerica the Beautiful\u201d during the lead-up to the 2026 Super Bowl, where her hometown Seahawks will take on the New England Patriots.<\/p>\n
Last year, America\u2019s most American event (outside of a free and fair Election Day) drew 127.7 million viewers. It was the second most-watched TV event<\/a> in U.S. history, behind only the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. Doesn\u2019t get bigger than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s not like Carlile\u2019s getting all shaky-kneed thinking about the number of chip dippers and Monday morning quarterbacks tuning in at home.<\/p>\n \u201cIsn’t that funny how that’s like our metric for what huge is?\u201d Carlile said. \u201cSince as long as we can remember, we say things like, \u2018Oh man, this thing is going to be so huge, it might as well be the Super Bowl! It’s like Super Bowl big!\u2019 Like, that’s the metric. So yeah, it just feels like a massive, massive deal, but I’m kind of steady about it. I’m ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n With its vast reach, a Super Bowl performance slot is the sort of opportunity an artist could spend their entire career clamoring for and never get.<\/p>\n Though, as Carlile\u2019s wife and manager Catherine Carlile tells it, this peach fell right into their lap through the Americana star’s<\/mark> new label, Interscope Records.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of those emails that makes your whole day,\u201d Catherine said. \u201cSo for us, it was just an immediate, big fat \u2018Yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n With a mega spectacle like the Super Bowl (and its many stakeholders), there\u2019s a fair amount of back-and-forth sorting out the carefully orchestrated logistics and aspects of the performances \u2014 from wardrobe choices to the specifics of performing on a football field \u2014<\/mark> even those under two minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cShe has a little accompaniment, some unexpected accompaniment,\u201d Catherine teased, careful not to divulge too much. \u201cBut I think that her take on this song is going to be uniquely special. And it’s funny, you get like one minute, 40 seconds to do something huge and make an impact, and that’s no small feat. But with a song like that, for somebody like Brandi, such a sensitive orator, I think it’s kind of perfect for her.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Never mind whatever stream-bumping, audience-expanding benefits come with a plum gig like the Super Bowl. The impact Carlile seems most concerned with is the cultural one.<\/p>\n Asked about singing the patriotic number on America\u2019s biggest stage at a hyperpolarized time when our Constitution is being tested, Carlile said, \u201cWell, it\u2019s a complex situation. This stage alone is a complex situation, if you\u2019re paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n This year\u2019s selection of Puerto Rican rapper\/singer Bad Bunny to headline the iconic halftime show has drawn conservative backlash. A Spanish-speaking American citizen, Bad Bunny is one of the five biggest pop stars on the planet, making Grammys history last week when his \u201cDeB\u00cd TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS\u201d became the first Spanish-language album to win album of the year. Accepting another award that evening, Bad Bunny used part of his acceptance speech to criticize recent ICE operations.<\/p>\n Last fall, the right-wing organization Turning Point USA, founded by the late conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, announced it would hold a counterprogramming event to the halftime show<\/mark>. Performers announced this week include rapper-turned-country rocker Kid Rock and Brantley Gilbert.\u00a0<\/p>\n Starting with the 2020 Super Bowl, the NFL has contracted with Jay-Z\u2019s entertainment company Roc Nation to produce the halftime show. Roc Nation has made concerted efforts to diversify and modernize the show and pregame entertainment, including the performances of the national anthem and \u201cAmerica the Beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018America the Beautiful\u2019 is one of the finest pieces of music and lyrics \u2026 that this country has ever seen,\u201d Carlile said<\/mark>. \u201cAnd it’s written from a perspective that I don’t know anybody that can’t get behind. I do believe in what the song is saying, and particularly if you delve into the lesser-known verses of this song, and you think about who wrote it and the situation. I’ve spent a lot of time on it and meditating on it, and I feel really proud to do it. And I feel really proud that they asked a gay woman to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n A casual listen to \u201cAmerica the Beautiful\u201d (and particularly the first verse) reveals a song basking in the country\u2019s physical beauty, \u201cfrom sea to shining sea.\u201d But there\u2019s a deeper read that blows an aspirational air beneath those eagle wings, asking \u2014 if not challenging \u2014 the country to live up to its ideals, for everyone.<\/p>\n While the lyrics were revised on several occasions, the words stem from an original 1895 poem written by Katharine Lee Bates, a Wellesley College professor and feminist author and poet, whom many scholars believe was gay. According to an NPR report<\/a>, Bates had a \u201chardscrabble upbringing,\u201d and her \u201cfamily\u2019s challenges gave Bates a deep empathy and lifelong interest in helping those struggling to make ends meet.\u201d<\/p>\n She and her longtime companion Katharine Coman, a social activist and fellow Wellesley professor, were involved in the reformist settlement house movement and helped \u201corganize a settlement home for immigrant workers in Boston,\u201d according to NPR.<\/p>\n As a like-minded artist and activist herself, the roots of the song and its values clearly spoke to Carlile.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can draw as many people as possible to that original poem and the woman that wrote it, it’ll be a really interesting perspective on America,\u201d Carlile said. \u201cI’m really excited to get to sing that song on such an important stage as a person from a marginalized community.\u201d<\/p>\n