Idina Menzel To Sing The National Anthem; John Legend To Sing “America The Beautiful” At Super Bowl XLIX On NBC

Idina Menzel (Photo by Jc Olivera)

Idina Menzel To Sing The National Anthem; John Legend To Sing “America The Beautiful” At Super Bowl XLIX On NBC

** THE SHOWBIZ LIVE! – NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 2015  — IDINA MENZEL will sing the National Anthem and JOHN LEGENDwill sing “America The Beautiful” as part of Super Bowl XLIX pregame festivities at University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona on Sunday, February 1, the NFL and NBC announced today. The performances will be televised live on NBC prior to kickoff.

More than 112.2 million viewers in the U.S. watched last year’s Super Bowl, the most-watched television program in history. The pregame show, including the National Anthem and “America The Beautiful,” and Super Bowl XLIX will be broadcast worldwide.

In addition, actress TRESHELLE EDMOND will perform in American Sign Language the National Anthem and “America The Beautiful.”

Menzel will make her Super Bowl debut. She is among many great performers who have been honored with singing the Super Bowl National Anthem including: Renee Fleming, Alicia Keys, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, Whitney Houston, Harry Connick, Jr., Garth Brooks, Natalie Cole, Vanessa Williams, Luther Vandross, Cher, Faith Hill, Mariah Carey, Dixie Chicks, Beyonce Knowles, Christina Aguilera and many more. (See below for a complete list of National Anthem performers from past Super Bowls.) 

Legend joins VICKI CARR (Super Bowl XI), RAY CHARLES (Super Bowl XXXV), MARY J. BLIGE & MARC ANTHONY (Super Bowl XXXVI), ALICIA KEYS (Super Bowl XXXIX), FAITH HILL (Super Bowl XLIII), QUEEN LATIFAH (Super Bowl XLIV & XLVIII) and LEA MICHELE (Super Bowl XLVI) in singing “America The Beautiful” at Super Bowl.  In 2013, JENNIFER HUDSON along with 26 children from the Newton, CT community sang the song in advance of Super Bowl XLVII.

The NFL previously announced that KATY PERRY will headline the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show. The pregame and halftime shows are an NFL NETWORK PRODUCTION and will be executive produced by RICKY KIRSHNER.

About Idina Menzel

Tony Award-winning icon Idina Menzel has a diverse career that traverses stage, film, television and music. Menzel’s voice can be heard as Elsa in Disney’s global box office smash Frozen, in which she sings the film’s Oscar-winning song “Let It Go.” After Menzel’s performance of the multi-platinum song at the 86th annual Academy Awards, she made history as the first person with both a Billboard Top 10 hit and a Tony Award for acting. Menzel earned her first Tony nomination as Maureen in the Pulitzer Prize winner Rent, and won the award for her performance as Elphaba in Wicked. Other notable roles include Rachel Berry’s mother, Shelby Corcoran, on the hit television show Glee as well starring opposite Susan Sarandon and Amy Adams in Disney’s Enchanted. Menzel starred in her own PBS special, Barefoot at the Symphony, with an accompanying live album of the same name, and her highly successful international concert tour recently included a sold-out performance at Radio City Music Hall. She will embark on a worldwide tour in 2015 that includes Asia, UK and North America. The North American leg begins July 7, 2015 and includes famed venues such as Jones Beach in New York and the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. In addition to cast albums, Menzel’s prolific recording career includes the solo albums I Stand, Here and Still I Can’t Be Still. Her first-ever Christmas album Holiday Wishes, releasedOctober 2014 on Warner Bros. Records, debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Holiday Albums chart, broke into the top 10 on Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and received rave reviews. Menzel can currently be seen on Broadway as Elizabeth in the original production If/Then, for which she earned critical acclaim and her third Tony nomination, and performed “Always Starting Over” from the musical at the 68th annual Tony Awards. For more information, please visit www.idinamenzel.com.

About John Legend

Ohio-born John Legend is a critically acclaimed, multi-award winning, platinum-selling singer-songwriter. His work has garnered him nine Grammy Awards, three Soul Train Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the BET Award for Best New Artist and the special Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. A graduate of University of Pennsylvania where he studied English and African-American literature, Legend participated in a wide range of musical activities while in college. During the same period, Legend was introduced to Lauryn Hill, who hired him to play piano on her track “Everything Is Everything,” and shortly thereafter he began to play shows around thePhiladelphia area, eventually expanding his audience base to New York, Boston, Atlanta and Washington D.C.After college, Legend was introduced to then up-and-coming hip-hop artist Kanye West, who quickly signed Legend to his G.O.O.D. Music imprint and hired him to sing vocal hooks on some of his music. Legend started gaining momentum through a series of similar collaborations with established artists, adding vocals to an impressive list of chart-topping hits including West’s “All of the Lights,” Jay-Z’s “Encore” and back-up vocals onAlicia Keys’ 2003 song, “You Don’t Know My Name.” Legend’s debut album, Get Lifted, was released in December of 2004 through Columbia Records. The critically acclaimed album spawned the artist’s first hit single, “Ordinary People,” and scored Legend multiple Grammy Awards in 2006, including Best R&B Album, Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The follow up was 2006’s platinum-selling Once Again, which brought Legend another Grammy, Best Male R&B Performance, for his single “Heaven,” and included collaborations with Kanye West, will.i.am and Raphael Saadiq. Legend’s next release was 2008’s Evolver, led by the hit single “Green Light” featuring Andre 3000. His 2010 collaboration with the Roots, Wake Up, won the Grammy for Best R&B Album a year later. Legend’s highly acclaimed fourth and most current studio album Love In the Future debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 Chart and garnered a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album. Produced by Legend and longtime collaborators Kanye West and Dave Tozer, the album’s break out hit, “All of Me,” is John’s highest selling and charting song to date, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #1 on both Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic charts, and earning a 2015 Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance.  Most recently, Legend won his first Golden Globe Award for his song “Glory” with Common, that was featured in the film SELMA.

Throughout his career, John has worked to make a difference in the lives of others. In 2007, he launched the Show Me Campaign (ShowMeCampaign.org), an initiative that focuses on education as a key to break the cycle of poverty. The 2010 BET Humanitarian of the Year award, the 2009 CARE Humanitarian Award for Global Change, the 2009 Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award from Africare and the 2011 Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year Award recognize Legend’s efforts and leadership in this arena. John sits on the boards of The Education Equality Project, Teach for America, Stand for Children and the Harlem Village Academies and co-chairs the Harlem Village Academies’ National Leadership Board.

** Via press release

Related articles

• 9 Biggest Goof-Ups in Super Bowl History
• 10 Super Bowl moments that live in infamy