Ledisi, a Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as part of Super Bowl LIX’s pregame festivities.
The New Orleans native sang the song, otherwise known as the Black national anthem, at the Caesars Superdome as fans anticipated the kickoff for the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
She won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song “Anything for You.”
Jon Batiste performed the national anthem and Lauren Daigle performed “America the Beautiful.”
The performance of the Black national anthem has been a source of consternation for fans since the NFL decided to inset the song before the Super Bowl to end the 2020 season. Fans were unhappy with it again and made their voices heard on social media.
Only our actual national anthem should be performed at the Super Bowl.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 9, 2025
Why are they trying to divide Americans? We are all American, under one National Anthem. The Star Spangled Banner
Black Americans are American. Stop this racism. #SuperBowl
— Beau Yotty (@BeauYotty) February 9, 2025
There is only ONE national anthem
Divisive.
— Earl Cooley (@EarlCooley96661) February 9, 2025
Black players make up 53% of the @NFL earning millions and millions to play a sport we were once banned from. But sure, let’s have a separate #BlackNationalAnthem and pretend that we haven’t overcome. It’s tone deaf. There’s only ONE national anthem. #Superbowl #OneHumanRace pic.twitter.com/SO0XkS6b6F
— Ryan Bomberger (@ryanbomberger) February 9, 2025
Maybe I’m being a reactionary here, but I think this “Black national anthem” thing is a bad idea that nobody asked for. Black folks are AMERICANS and they share the same national anthem as everyone else here. I just don’t see the utility of continuing to split people up by race.… https://t.co/G5YtlH0zUC
— Michael (@Socdem_Michael) February 9, 2025
Andra Day sang the song at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
The NFL started to play the Black national anthem in the 2020 season after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. The incident started a wave of actions against racial injustice across the U.S.
The NAACP began to promote “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as the Black national anthem in 1917.
