News Of Reba’s Super Bowl National Anthem Performance Sparks Fan Reactions

Reba McEntire fans are on cloud nine after learning that the country legend has been tapped to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of Super Bowl LVIII.

The announcement was made Thursday morning (Jan. 18) that Reba McEntire would have the honor of kicking off the Big Game with a national anthem performance.

Reba’s performance will mark the fourth year in a row that a country artist has been enlisted for the gig, and the tenth country act in the history of the game to have the honor. Charley Pride, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood are among those who have taken on the high-pressure performance.

Reba’s anthem cover will come one year after fellow country star Chris Stapleton delivered what is considered to be one of the best “Star-Spangled Banner” performance in Super Bowl history. But, if anyone can fill Stapleton’s shoes, it’s Reba McEntire.

RELATED: CHRIS STAPLETON MADE GROWN MEN CRY WITH SUPER BOWL NATIONAL ANTHEM PERFORMANCE

The Big Game will air on February 11, 2024, and will also feature pre-game songs from Post Malone, who will sing “America The Beautiful,” and Andra Day, who is slated to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Reba McEntire’s Super Bowl Performance Marks A Special Anniversary

Reba will be taking the field for one of the biggest honors an artist can undertake, and it is happening 50 years after another national anthem performance that changed her life.

How I met y’all. I’m still here. pic.twitter.com/RiwDVPBMM4

— Reba McEntire (@reba) January 18, 2024

50 years ago Reba was discovered after singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the National Finals Rodeo. 1974 marked the year Red Steagall heard the young singer at the Oklahoma City event and set her on a path to superstardom.

“He was the one that said, ‘Jackie’ – to my mama – said, ‘Jackie, why don’t you bring Reba down and let’s see if we can get her a record deal,’” McEntire told Cody Johnson in a 2021 interview. “And it was 11 months later I had a record deal with Polygraph Mercury Records.”

Fans React To News Of Reba’s Super Bowl Performance

Reba fans were elated to hear that she will be performing on one of television’s biggest stages. Notes of congratulations and a newfound excitement for the Super Bowl flooded social media Thursday morning.

News of Reba’s role in the pre-game festivities was met with overwhelming positivity, though plenty of fans voiced their desire for her to have been recruited for the halftime show instead. Post Malone will be singing “America The Beautiful” and his fans had similar reactions. R&B artist Usher will be delivering the halftime show this year, marking 21 years since the last country act headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. Shania Twain was the most recent star with country music connections to do so in 2003. Fans argue that by the time she performed at the Big Game she had fully crossed over to pop and shouldn’t be counted as a country act.

Prior to 2003, only one other Super Bowl halftime show in the game’s history featured country acts. In 1994, Travis Tritt, The Judds, Clint Black and Tanya Tucker teamed up for a Rockin’ Country Sunday-themed halftime show.

Tune in to CBS on Sunday, February 11, to watch Reba McEntire sing the national anthem live from Las Vegas. Watch her sing “The Star-Spangled” banner at the National Finals Rodeo in 1974 in the video below.