Fans React to Brandi Carlile’s ‘America the Beautiful’ Performance At Super Bowl LX
Viewers praised her “beautiful voice” and others declared “she sounded amazing.”
Brandi Carlile ‘America the Beautiful’; Photo via NBC
All eyes were on longtime Seattle Seahawks fan Brandi Carlile on Sunday (Feb. 8) as she took the field at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California to perform “America the Beautiful” ahead of Super Bowl LX.
Carlile was joined on the field by deaf artist Julian Ortiz, who delivered a powerful American Sign Language interpretation of the song alongside her. The performance also featured string players, while Carlile played guitar as she sang.
Throughout the emotional moment, cameras cut to players from both Super Bowl LX teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, along with shots of American troops. An American flag stretched across the field as Carlile’s performance unfolded.
This marked the Washington native’s first time singing “America the Beautiful” and it’s safe to say she knocked it out of the park.
Reactions poured in online following her big moment, with viewers praising her “beautiful voice” and others declaring “she sounded amazing.”
“Brandi Carlile with the best performance of the day so far. She’s the [goat] though so I’m not surprised,” one social media user wrote.
Another noted, “I hope someone who’s never heard of Brandi Carlile before saw her perform tonight and was blown away.”
“Brandi Carlile is so effortless, with pen and with voice! So beautiful, so admirable,” another user shared.
Ahead of the big game, Carlile described her performance as “a melodically centered version, instead of a rhythmically centered version” of “America the Beautiful.” She delivered on that in front of an estimated audience of over 125 million watching from across the country.
She told Variety that this marked her first time performing the song. Carlile previously sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Seattle Seahawks game more than a decade ago, while Charlie Puth handled the national anthem duties tonight.
“I sang ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ a couple of times in high school, and I sang it for the Seattle Storm a couple of times early on when I was really young, and then I sang it once for the Seahawks in one really, really big game [in 2015]. That is a really, really hard song. So I’ve sung that one before,” she explained to the publication.
“But I’ve never sung ‘America the Beautiful.’ I’ve been hearing it my whole life, but I do remember when I first sort of clocked it. I was invited to the White House when Obama was president to sing on the lawn on the 4th of July, and Brandon Flowers [frontman of the Killers] sang it. I just remember hearing it that way, as a modern song, and I was like, ‘Oh, that is a beautiful song’ — beautiful melodically, and lyrically beautiful. Other than that, my exposure to it has been that the definitive versions of the song have been Ray Charles and Whitney Houston, and those versions can’t be touched.”
When Variety asked the 11-time GRAMMY winner about performing the song during “a time of trouble and division,” she shared her hope for the country: “And I think if we’re gonna save this country as a people, we have to be reminded on some level that deep down we love it.”
Brandi Carlile’s performance of “America the Beautiful” aired ahead of Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Game day festivities kicked off at 6:30 p.m. ET and aired Sunday, February 8, at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, and Universo.
Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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