Reba McEntire Lights Up Super Bowl With National Anthem, After 50 Years of Hailing Twilight’s Last Gleaming
variety.comChris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic There was no need to worry that Reba McEntire might mess up or bring any unnecessary flourishes to “The Star-Spangled Banner” when she performed the National Anthem prior to the Super Bowl on Sunday evening.
Unlike anyone else who’d done it prior to the Bowl or any other major NFL game in recent memory, she brought a full half-century’s experience of singing the anthem to the occasion.
The year 2024 marks a special anniversary for the country superstar and her association with the song: She is often said to have been “discovered” 50 years ago when she sang it at the 1974 National Finals Rodeo in her home state of Oklahoma, when she was just 19.
McEntire’s latest rendition of the anthem was more fully orchestrated than some other recent versions — or even her own past readings — have been, with a pre-recorded horn section sending the song toward a big climax.
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