BY PHILL BARNETT
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Staffordsville-native Chris Stapleton will be the crooner-of-honor at the 57th Super Bowl on February 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Tuesday morning, the NFL announced the pregame entertainment for Super Bowl LVII will include Johnson County’s favorite son leading the audience in the National Anthem. 

Stapleton has won numerous awards for his music including eight grammys and fifteen CMA awards and is the songsmith behind half a dozen chart-topping country songs including “Drink A Beer” by Luke Bryan, “Love’s Gonna Make It Alright” by George Strait and Kenny Chesney’s “Never Wanted Nothin’ More.” His own debut album reached number one on the US Billboard 200. 

Stapleton is one of the most revered musicians and singers of his generation, so he was a natural choice to sing the national anthem. 

A Navy flyover will be conducted by all-female pilots during the anthem to celebrate 50 years of female aviators in the U.S. Navy. 

Joining Stapleton for pregame entertainment, twelve-time Grammy winner Babyface will be singing “America the Beautiful.”  Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph will be singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” following up her breathtaking and unexpected performance of Dianne Reeves’ “Endangered Species” during her Emmy acceptance speech last year. Ralph won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Abbott Elementary.

Deaf performers Troy Kotsur, Colin Denny and Justina Miles will be performing the opening ceremony and halftime show in American Sign Language.

The halftime show will be performed by Barbadian superstar Rihanna.

The teams playing in the Super Bowl will be determined by the outcome of the AFC Championship Game, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals, and the NFC Championship Game, Philadelphia Eagles vs. San Fransisco 49ers. The winner of each game will advance to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl LVII and all pregame and halftime performances will be aired on Fox on February 12 beginning at 6:30 pm ET.