Carrie Underwood Delivers First-Ever Live Performance Of ‘Waiting All Day for Sunday Night’

On Sunday, August 4, Carrie Underwood closed out the end of the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week with an unforgettable show at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

As the first female act in history to headline the annual Concert for Legends, Underwood made sure to kick things off with a bang. She catered to her football-loving audience by opening the show with her first-ever live performance of the official Sunday Night Football theme song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.” The crowd cheered as they instantly recognized the banger of a tune that has become a staple of Sunday nights throughout the fall.  

Multi-colored lights flared around the stage as Underwood made her way in front of the audience while donning silver shorts, a rhinestone shawl and matching cowboy boots. She belted out the lyrics to the tune that become a monumental part of the NFL season as it aims to get fans pumped up before each game. 

For the first time ever, @carrieunderwood performed the SNF theme song LIVE, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” 🏈🔥
pic.twitter.com/oWRkOItWwH

— CMU Fan ♡ (@TeamCarrie1212) August 5, 2024

Following her headlining performance, the American Idol alum took to social media to share a series of photos recapping the night, accompanied by a caption that signaled how much she enjoyed being part of the Concert for Legends.

She wrote, “Had a fun night last night in Canton, Ohio at the #TomBensonHallOfFameStadium for the @profootballhof🏈Such a great crowd! Thanks for coming out and singing along!!!”

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A post shared by Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood)

The History Of The ‘Sunday Night Football’ Theme Song

While Carrie Underwood has certainly become known as the voice of Sunday Night Football, she is not the first artist to lend her vocals to the weekly program. When SNF launched in 2006, the iconic pop/rock singer P!NK was tapped to sing a new rendition of Joan Jett’s 1988 hit, “I Hate Myself For Loving You,” which had been altered to reflect the themes relating to football. The following year, Faith Hill took on the role and continued to sing her rendition of the intro track for several seasons before passing the torch onto Underwood in 2013. 

For 11 seasons the “Denim & Rhinestones” singer has remained the voice of Sunday Night Football, however, she has made several attempts in that time to change up the song heard each weekend. In 2016, she debuted “Oh, Sunday Night,” a reworked version of her duet with Miranda Lambert, “Somethin’ Bad,” and then two years later, she presented another new theme song titled “Game On.” Unfortunately, “Game On” resulted in a copyright lawsuit, thus forcing Underwood to return to the original theme, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.”

The epic video for last season’s version of the song was filmed on the set of Underwood’s Las Vegas REFLECTION residency. Both the lyrics and the footage were slightly altered each weekend depending on the game’s location and which teams were playing. 

Will Underwood Be Returning To SNF?

Sunday Night Football will officially return for the 2024 season on September 8 and continue through at least December 29. The first teams to face off will be the Los Angeles Rams and the Detroit Lions. It has yet to be confirmed whether or not Carrie Underwood will be returning for her 12^th season on the weekly television broadcast that airs on NBC and Peacock.