New York, NY [January 24, 2023] – The NFL today announced the pregame entertainment lineup for the Super Bowl LVII in Arizona, which will be played at State Farm Stadium on Sunday, February 12, 2023, and will be broadcast on FOX.
Acclaimed musician and songwriter CHRIS STAPLETON will sing the national anthem. An 8x Grammy, 15x CMA and 10x ACM Award-winner, Stapleton is one of the country’s most respected and beloved musicians.
Twelve-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, songwriter, and producer, BABYFACE will sing “America the Beautiful.” Babyface has produced and written 125 Top 10 hits, 44 No. 1 R&B hits and 16 No. 1 pop hits.
Emmy-award winning actress, SHERYL LEE RALPH, will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Ralph is also a Golden Globe nominee, Critics Choice Winner, Tony Award nominee, NAACP Image Award nominee and Independent Spirit Award winner. Sheryl can currently be seen starring in smash hit, comedy series “Abbott Elementary.” Sheryl Lee Ralph has become a staple in the entertainment industry, with an acclaimed career spanning over three decades.
On behalf of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), renowned actor and Arizona native TROY KOTSUR will perform the national anthem in American Sign Language (ASL). For his acclaimed work in the movie CODA, Kotsur became only the second Deaf person ever to win an Oscar, in the category of Best Supporting Actor. COLIN DENNY, a Deaf Native American, will sign “America the Beautiful,” and is a proud member of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Deaf performer JUSTINA MILES will sign “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and also provide the ASL rendition of the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show.
To commemorate 50 years of women flying in the U.S. Navy, the service will conduct a flyover of State Farm Stadium during the national anthem with women aviators as part of the formation. The formation will be composed of an F-35C Lightning II from the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, two F/A-18F Super Hornets from the “Flying Eagles” of VFA-122, and an EA-18G Growler from the “Vikings” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129.
The NFL previously announced that international icon RIHANNA will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show which will be produced by DPS with Roc Nation and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton serving as director.
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About Chris Stapleton: Kentucky-born Chris Stapleton is an 8x Grammy, 15x CMA and 10x ACM Award-winner and one of the country’s most respected and beloved musicians. Most recently, he was named CMA Male Vocalist of the Year for the sixth time — setting the record for most wins ever in the category. Stapleton’s most recent album, Starting Over, also recently won Best Country Album at the 67th Annual Grammys as well as earning Album of the Year honors at both the 54th Annual CMA Awards and 56th ACM Awards. The record follows Stapleton’s pair of Platinum-certified releases from 2017, From A Room: Volume 1 and From A Room: Volume 2, as well as his x5 Platinum breakthrough solo debut album, Traveller. Known for his electric live performances, Stapleton will join George Strait for a series of stadium shows this year with special guests Little Big Town. In addition to his work as a musician, Stapleton and his wife, Morgane, are founders of the Outlaw State of Kind charitable fund, which supports a variety of causes that are close to their heart. Most recently, Stapleton’s “Kentucky Rising” concert last month raised over $2.8 million to support flood relief in Eastern Kentucky.
About Babyface: Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds is one of the most celebrated creative forces in music. He has contributed to over 800 million records sold and over a billion records streamed. Babyface has produced and written 125 Top 10 hits, 44 No. 1 R&B hits and 16 No. 1 pop hits. As a recording artist, songwriter and producer, he has won a total of 12 Grammy Awards and ranks as the only individual in Grammy history to be honored as “Producer of the Year” four times. He has also won five Soul Train Awards, five NAACP Image Awards, four American Music Awards and numerous other honors. In addition, Babyface produced and co-wrote the Oscar-winning song “When You Believe,” sung by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and co-founded the legendary record label LaFace. On October 21, 2022 Babyface released his new project, Girls Night Out, which features collaborations with some of today’s brightest female R&B stars, including Ella Mai, who is heard on the first single, “Keeps On Fallin’,” which is Grammy nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance and took the #1 spot on the Mediabase R&B chart. Babyface is also a passionate philanthropist who actively supports numerous charities including Larry Ruvo’s “Keep Memory Alive.” He has collaborated with Shine The Light On (www.shinethelighton.com) for a special, limited-edition hoodie available on Super Bowl Sunday in which a portion of the proceeds will benefit the charity.
About Sheryl Lee Ralph: From bringing characters to life on screen, performing on Broadway, producing, landing the title of national bestselling author with her literary debut, and her deep rooted philanthropic endeavors which touch lives across the world, Emmy Winner, Golden Globe nominee, Critics Choice Winner, Tony Award nominee, NAACP Image Award nominee and Independent Spirit Award winner Sheryl Lee Ralph has become a staple in the entertainment industry, with an acclaimed career spanning over three decades. Sheryl can currently be seen starring on ABC’s smash hit, comedy series “Abbott Elementary” opposite Quinta Brunson. In summer 2022, the show earned a total of seven Emmy nominations from the Television Academy for its freshman season, including Outstanding Comedy Series, with Sheryl winning Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also won the Critics Choice award for Best Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series and landed the Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Musical-Comedy Or Drama Television Series.
About Troy Kotsur: Actor Troy Kotsur is renowned for his extraordinary ability to use American Sign Language to convey a magnificent range of emotion and communication, representing stories from Deaf Communities at the highest level. For his outstanding performance in the Oscar winning film CODA, where he played the compelling and cantankerous Deaf father in a Deaf family with one hearing daughter, Kotsur became only the second Deaf person to win an Academy Award. Kotsur’s performance in this role also saw him win Best Supporting Actor awards from BAFTA, the Critics’ Choice, Gotham Awards, Independent Spirit, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and more. He has performed on Broadway in Spring Awakening and in numerous stage productions by Deaf West Theater and the National Theatre of the Deaf. Kotsur was most recently seen on television acting in the Star Wars series “The Mandalorian,” for which he created the Tusken sign language. The language he created was also used in the show’s spinoff series “The Book of Boba Fett.” He will next appear in a Disney+ series about the California Riverside School for the Deaf football team that recently won the state championship.
About Colin Denny: Colin Denny will blend American Sign Language and North American Indian Sign Language in this Super Bowl performance of America the Beautiful. Born in Shiprock, New Mexico and raised in Pinon, Arizona, within Navajo Nation, Colin Denny comes from a family that is dedicated to teaching. His parents are teachers within the Navajo community and teach the Navajo language. Colin comes from the Water Flowing Together People Clan and was born into the Coyote Pass People Clan. His maternal grandfather comes from the Red Running into Water Clan and his paternal grandfather comes from the Many Goat Clan. Colin seeks to promote sign languages, with a goal of teaching American Sign Language and mastering North American Indian Sign Language. He is working as a research assistant on the study of North American Indian Sign Language at the University of Arizona, and is pursuing a Masters of Art in Sign Language Education from Gallaudet University, has a B.A. in Art and Media Design from Gallaudet and an A.A. in Fine Art from Diné College, and is a 2009 graduate of the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind.
About Justina Miles: Hailing from the City of Brotherly Love with a passion for the arts, Justina Miles lives to dance and creatively express through music and sign language. She will do double duty in signing Lift Every Voice and Sing during the pregame, and also match Rhianna’s singing with her ASL rendition during the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. Justina has performed dazzling ASL renditions of music at various concerts throughout the country. Justina was part of the USA team that went to the 2021/22 Deaflympics in Brazil and returned with a silver medal as part of the 4X100 women’s track relay team. She is currently a nursing student and cheerleader at Bowie State University, a prestigious HCBU, and was the valedictorian at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington DC.
COURTESY NFLmedia.com
