In a gown as blue as the California sky, country music star Mickey Guyton utilized her pure voice to present a respectful version of the national anthem.
Backed by a small chorus clad in white, as well as a pianist, Guyton infused her rendition with vocal runs and hit an impressive high note mid-song. But it was her ending, perfectly timed to the flyover at the Super Bowl 56 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, that capped the rendition with notable verve.
Guyton's performance – which clocked in at 1:51 – was relatively low-key compared to the dramatic styles of Lady Gaga in 2016 and Demi Lovato in 2020. But the barometer of greatness continues to be Whitney Houston's 1991 version that was so captivating, it became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
A moment of confusion occurred shortly before the national anthem when Guyton was shown with the name of R&B singer Jhené Aiko – who was about to perform "America the Beautiful" – under her live shot. Aiko, clad in a sequined gown and backed by a harpist, bared a thigh and a delicate voice on her rendition.
Guyton’s excitement about performing at the Super Bowl was palpable when she tweeted the news earlier this month.
“Look at God. I am shook, I am grateful, I am praise dancing,” she wrote.
Guyton, 38, is the second consecutive country singer to perform the national anthem. Last year, Eric Church shared the assignment with Jazmine Sullivan in a rendition of appealingly contrasting styles.
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Guyton told the Los Angeles Times this week that she’s been singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” since she was 13 and performed it at a basketball game. She also cited Whitney Houston’s lauded 1991 interpretation as a sign that Black women could excel in entertainment.
“It’s so full circle,” Guyton told the news outlet. “It’s really going to show people what I can do, and I hope a lot of fans are going to see me differently.”
A native of Arlington, Texas, Guyton’s career has been a slow burn. A pair of EPs – “Unbreakable” in 2014 and an eponymous release in 2015 – earned her some attention with the single “Better Than You Left Me.”
But Guyton’s superpower is more about the content of her songs than smothering the charts with hits.
“What Are You Gonna Tell Her” digs into the challenges she’s faced as a woman in the male-dominated country music sphere, while 2020’s Grammy-nominated “Black Like Me,” from her full-length debut, “Remember Her Name,” particularizes Guyton’s experiences as a Black woman in country music.
She’s nominated for three Grammys at the April 3 awards ceremony, including best country album for “Remember Her Name.”
Guyton’s partner in the musical lead-in to the game, Aiko, is a Los Angeles native whose earliest career moments came as a contributing vocalist in the early 2000s with R&B boy band B2K.
Her most recent album, 2020’s “Chilombo,” is the biggest of her career. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
A six-time Grammy nominee, Aiko, 33, is a constant presence on the R&B charts with hits including “B.S.” (featuring H.E.R.), “Sativa” (with Swae Lee) and “None of Your Concern,” a collaboration with former beau Big Sean.
Another pre-game music moment was delivered by Mary Mary. Sisters Erica Campbell and Trecina "Tina" Atkins-Campbell have been a staple on the gospel circuit since 1998 and starred in a self-named reality TV show on WeTV.
On Sunday, the two-time Grammy winners performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” – the hymn known as the Black national anthem – outside the stadium accompanied by the L.A. Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles.
