"The Star-Spangled Banner" is played before the start of nearly every sporting event in the United States. But there's no bigger stage than before the opening kickoff in the Super Bowl.
With hundreds of millions of people watching on, the performer each year has a lot of responsibility on their shoulders to get it right. This year, that responsibility falls to country music star Chris Stapleton.
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Who is singing the national anthem at Super Bowl 2023?
Chris Stapleton is an eight-time Grammy Award winner who hails from Kentucky.
His musical career began in the early 2000s. After spending a year studying engineering at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, he dropped out and moved to Nashville, where he began pursuing music full time.
After more than a decade spent performing with various bands, Stapleton released his debut solo album, Traveller, in 2015. It received widespread acclaim, reaching number one on the US Billboard 200 and winning the Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2016. The album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
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His cover of the song "Tennessee Whiskey" launched his career to new heights and remains one of his most popular songs, with 672 million views on YouTube at the time of writing.
He has also co-written six number one country songs, collaborating with famous names like Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan and George Strait.
Stapleton's appearance at the Super Bowl is fitting considering he played football as a student at Johnson Central High School in Paintsville, Ken.
What time does Super Bowl 56 start?
Super Bowl 57 between the Chiefs and Eagles is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. local time) on Sunday, Feb. 12. The game is being played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ari.
The other main performer of the night will be Rihanna, who will star in the halftime show.
You can watch the game, the performances, the commercials and everything else that comes with Super Bowl Sunday on the FOX network.
MORE: Watch Super Bowl 57 live with fuboTV (free trial)
Past Super Bowl national anthem singers
| Super Bowl | Year | Performer(s) |
| I | 1967 | The Pride of Arizona, Michigan Marching Band and UCLA choir |
| II | 1968 | Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band |
| III | 1969 | Lloyd Geisler of the Washington National Symphony Orchestra |
| IV | 1970 | AL Hirt |
| V | 1971 | Tommy Loy |
| VI | 1972 | U.S. Air Force Academy Chorale |
| VII | 1973 | Little Angels Children's Choir of Chicago's Holy Angels Church |
| VIII | 1974 | Charley Pride |
| IX | 1975 | Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band |
| X | 1976 | Tom Sullivan |
| XI | 1977 | None (Vikki Carr sang "America the Beautiful") |
| XII | 1978 | Phyllis Tell of the University of Louisiana at Monroe |
| XIII | 1979 | Te Colgate Thirteen |
| XIV | 1980 | Cheryl Ladd |
| XV | 1981 | Helen O'Connell |
| XVI | 1982 | Diana Ross |
| XVII | 1983 | Leslie Easterbrook |
| XVIII | 1984 | Barry Manilow |
| XIX | 1985 | San Francisco Boys Chorus, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Piedmont Children's Chorus and San Francisco Children's Chorus |
| XX | 1986 | Winston Marsalis |
| XXI | 1987 | Neil Diamond |
| XXII | 1988 | Herb Alpert |
| XXIII | 1989 | Billy Joel |
| XXIV | 1990 | Aaron Neville |
| XXV | 1991 | Whitney Houston with the Florida Orchestra |
| XXVI | 1992 | Harry Connick, Jr. |
| XXVII | 1993 | Garth Brooks |
| XXVIII | 1994 | Natalie Cole |
| XXIX | 1995 | Kathie Lee Gifford |
| XXX | 1996 | Vanessa L. Williams |
| XXXI | 1997 | Luther Vandross |
| XXXII | 1998 | Jewel |
| XXXIII | 1999 | Cher |
| XXXIV | 2000 | Faith Hill |
| XXV | 2001 | Backstreet Boys |
| XXXVI | 2002 | Mariah Carey |
| XXXVII | 2003 | Dixie Chicks |
| XXXVIII | 2004 | Beyonce |
| XXXIX | 2005 | U.S. Army Herald Trumpets and the choirs from the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy |
| XL | 2006 | Aaron Neville, Arethra Franklin and Dr. John |
| XLI | 2007 | Billy Joel |
| XLII | 2008 | Jordin Sparks |
| XLIII | 2009 | Jennifer Hudson |
| XLIV | 2010 | Carrie Underwood |
| XLV | 2011 | Christina Aguilera |
| XLVI | 2012 | Kelly Clarkson |
| XLVII | 2013 | Alicia Keys |
| XLVIII | 2014 | Renee Fleming |
| XLIX | 2015 | Idina Menzel |
| 50 | 2016 | Lady Gaga |
| LI | 2017 | Luke Bryan |
| LII | 2018 | P!nk |
| LIII | 2019 | Gladys Knight |
| LIV | 2020 | Demi Lovato |
| LV | 2021 | Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan |
| LVI | 2022 | Mickey Guyton |
| LVII | 2023 | Chris Stapleton |