The National Anthem? Last Night, Chris Stapleton Showed How It’s Done

The Super Bowl last night was, all things considered, a pretty good show.

You had a tremendously competitive game the Chiefs won 38-35 on a last-second field goal. That followed a not-great defensive holding call which probably could have been let go by the officials in such a crucial moment on a 3rd down in Eagles territory with just under two minutes left in the game. If the call isn’t made, it’s an incomplete pass and Kansas City kicks the go-ahead field goal with enough time for Philadelphia to attempt a scoring drive of their own to tie or win the game.

That said, James Bradberry was holding JuJu Smith-Schuster, even if it was a fleeting moment. And the Eagles were the lucky recipients of a call earlier in the game in which replay officials called an incomplete pass what looked awfully close to a catch and fumble, and a scoop and score that would have been Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton’s second touchdown fumble recovery of the game.

So the calls more or less balanced out. The performances were good. The halftime show, which we’re told was R&B singer Rihanna’s first live performance in seven years, was…pretty good. It wasn’t overtly sexual and it had some interesting choreography, not to mention a host of platforms suspended in midair by wires which offered a lot different look than you’d normally see.

All that said, the national anthem was far and away the best part of the night.

Chris Stapleton might be the best country singer going right now, which is saying something because country has a tremendous roster of talented performers going; it’s probably the only truly healthy genre in the music business at present. Stapleton isn’t fancy; watch him live and he’s a fat guy with a guitar and a ten gallon hat and lots of hair. But when he sings there’s so much soul in it that you can’t help but be moved.

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Stapleton’s songs are on TV commercials, he’s been a crossover star. He’s not some hidden gem.

But last night he sang the national anthem, and this ranks right up there with Whitney Houston’s legendary Super Bowl performance. It might even be better.

So here it is.

 

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