Leading up to Chris Stapleton‘s now-legendary national anthem performance at the Super Bowl in 2023, it was pretty rare for the country superstar to agree to an anthem gig.
And now, as he looks back on that moment, he says it was probably be his last anthem performance ever.
“I would have people ask me to sing the national anthem for various things. I jokingly always said, ‘No, I’ll just do it when it’s time to do it at the Super Bowl,'” Stapleton explains in a new appearance on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Dirty Mo Media podcast.
“I’d just turn it down a lot,” the singer continues. “And I do say now that I have officially retired from it as well.”
Read More: Remember How Chris Stapleton’s National Anthem Brought an NFL Coach to Tears?
During the podcast, he didn’t directly explain why he typically turns down the gig. But he did say that an anthem performance carries a lot of extra pressure, enough to give even the normally-cool-headed Stapleton some stage jitters.
“I don’t get nervous to play, necessarily. That one, I was like, ‘I was gonna make sure I’m as prepared as I can be,'” he says, adding that coming out on the field for that Super Bowl performance was “genuinely nervewracking.”
“And I was live live. There was no pre-recorded anything,” Stapleton continues.
- Stapleton performed the national anthem on Feb. 12, 2023, directly before a Super Bowl that found the Kansas City Chiefs going head to head against the Philadelphia Eagles.
- He took the field with his guitar, wearing sunglasses, a black jacket and slacks.
- Stapleton’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was so special, it brought Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni to tears — a moment that was captured on the live broadcast.
- Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Eagles center Jason Kelce were visibly moved, too.
“Did I realize that I was doing something good in the moment? I don’t know. I realized I was not messing up,” he remembers. “That was my goal, was to not mess up. Like, not mess up the words, not flub a guitar lick. That was my goal, was to get through it to a degree that [I could say], ‘Alright, I executed the national anthem without insulting the national anthem.'”
The singer also made sure to give credit to the crew and television team that helped his performance translate perfectly to a live TV experience.
“…And I have to give credit to, I’m not saying my version wasn’t good, I think it was good, but all the TV editing that they did while I was doing it was just spot-on,” he says. “Everything that they did to make that moment feel as big and nice as it could, they did it, and they executed it flawlessly.”
Read More: Country Music’s Best, Worst + Most Unusual National Anthem Performances
Once again, the Eagles and the Chiefs will go head to head in 2025 for Super Bowl LIX on Sunday evening (Feb. 9) in New Orleans, La. The Chiefs are currently vying for their “three-peat” third consecutive Super Bowl title.
Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem at this year’s game. This marks the first time in five years that a country singer hasn’t done the honors. Eric Church and Mickey Guyton performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” in the years before Stapleton, and Reba McEntire sang it at the 2024 show.
The 25 Best Country Songs of the Last 25 Years (2000-2024)
The best country songs of the last 25 years were felt and heard. Commercial impact was a factor, but emotional impact is what separates these songs from others released in the 2000s.
Technically the century began in 2001, but we reached back to 2000 to summarize this list of top songs. Alan Jackson is the only artist with two songs, but you’ll find 11 Entertainer of the Year winners scattered across a playlist the required several stunning exclusions.
Curious as to why your favorite song missed the cut? Well, there are only 25 spots for the best of 25,000 country song releases. Hard decisions needed to be made!
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes