This year's Super Bowl kicked off beautifully.
Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church's Rendition of the National Anthem Was Stunning
Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church kicked off the 2021 Super Bowl with a beautiful rendition of the national anthem.
I know you want to see it, so go ahead and check it out, below, and then we can discuss. (Shout-out to the ASL interpreter, who was iconic!)
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1358558637287964678Sullivan opened up to Glamour about performing at the big game—which is particularly resonant this year with our first Black woman vice president, Kamala Harris, in office.
“Honestly, I’ll be the first to say I’ve played myself small all my life,” she said. “So I never even dreamt of performing at the Super Bowl. I always looked at that as a moment for someone who had a career that was bigger than mine. So I’m just super grateful, in shock, and excited to share this moment with my loved ones who have seen me go through all the things I have in my life. I just feel like it’s all God’s timing because they picked the Blackest, most soulful artist they could find to do this with Eric Church. He’s a country singer, and we are the total opposites of each other. But I’m representing for my people, our lives, our struggles, and everything we’ve been through. I can’t even explain it. I’m completely honored. I’m just gon’ go and sang.”
Sullivan released her latest collection of music, Heaux Tales, in early January 2021. “I actually didn’t know it would get this response,” she told Glamour about its release. “Because it was an EP, I didn’t know how people would respond to the tales. For me, they were the meat of the project and a huge part of why I even wanted to do this. I needed these stories told. They are personal stories. These are my best friends and members of my family. It started off so small—literally just our regular conversations. I knew it was special to me, but I didn’t know how deep it would be to other women."
She continued, “But I get it. Our stories aren’t told enough—or at all. We don’t have a lot to be able to say, ‘Oh, that’s me right there.’ Or, ‘That’s my story, and I relate to that.’ Or even, ‘That’s not my story, and I want to know more.’ We don’t have enough stories as Black women. I’m happy people are feeling it on a different level outside of the music.”
This year's Super Bowl looks a little different this year because of the coronavirus, but it's comforting we still got a dazzling national anthem performance. Congrats, Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church!
This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Christopher Rosa
