Carrie Underwood is singing the Sunday Night Football theme for an eighth season in 2020, and she says she’s grateful to still be part of the team — especially this year.
“We all want to make each year feel special and unique,” Underwood says in a video that gives fans a behind-the-scenes peek at the making of the new opening video. “More than anything, everybody’s just grateful that we get to do this.”
The ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic gave producers of the opening clip “a new perspective” on the performance, Underwood shares. NFL players will make appearances via virtual cameos, and fans were invited to be part of the opening this year, too; all of Underwood’s filming and recording took place according to COVID-19 guidelines.
“Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” pre-dates Underwood as the SNF theme. NBC began using the song, a re-written version of Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” in 2006. Pop star Pink sang the song that season, then Faith Hill took over until Underwood began her reign in 2013.
Sunday Night Football producers switched the broadcast’s theme song in 2016, to “Oh, Sunday Night,” a reimagined version of Underwood and Miranda Lambert’s “Somethin’ Bad.” That song was used until 2018, when “Game On,” another new song, became the theme for one season. “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” returned in 2019, with Underwood and Jett starring in the opening sequence together.
Fans will first get to see the new Sunday Night Football opening theme on Sunday (Sept. 13), when the Dallas Cowboys play the Los Angeles Rams in California
“I think people need Sunday Night Football,” Underwood says. “We need that bit of normalcy, even if we’re going about it in a slightly different way.”
See Inside Carrie Underwood’s Nashville Mansion:
See Inside Carrie Underwood’s Beautiful Post-American Idol Home: