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Just moments before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots faced off for Super Bowl LX, Brandi Carlile took the field at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., to get the crowd in a patriotic mood with a gorgeous, stripped-back performance of “America the Beautiful.”
Standing on a small stage in a tailored suit with white stripe accents, the musician effortlessly crooned the ballad’s poetic lyrics while finger-picking an acoustic guitar, nailing every note even as the melody inched higher and higher on the scale. Joining Carlile was duo SistaStrings, who upped the emotional value of the performance with swelling violin and cello.
“America, America!/ God shed his grace on thee,” Carlile belted, her voice sailing over the speakers. “And crown thy good with brotherhood/ From sea to shining sea!”
Carlile’s performance was part of a pre-game lineup that also included Coco Jones belting out “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” Green Day rocking out with an opening ceremony mini-concert and Charlie Puth delivering “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The biggest musical event of the day, however, will be Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated halftime show, which is expected to be the first predominantly Spanish-language set in Super Bowl history.
Leading up to the Big Game, Carlile — a Washington native — supported the Seahawks at the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, where the Seattle team won 31-27 and secured its slot in the Super Bowl. And while she wasn’t dressed in blue and lime for her performance of “America the Beautiful,” the country star told Variety in an interview published the day before the Super Bowl, “I’ll have a Seahawks jersey on in my heart.”
She also told the publication about her choice to participate in the Super Bowl’s musical offerings during such a politically tense time in the U.S. “I believe in my ability and responsibility to do this, and that’s why I’m here,” Carlile said. “And the throughline to being queer and being a representative of a marginalized community and being put on the largest stage in America to acknowledge the fraught and tender hope that this country is based on, it’s something you don’t say no to. You do it.”
