Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church teamed up to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl LV on Sunday, February 7 — and the results are in. The duet before the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicked off lasted for two minutes and 17 seconds.
Football fans have been betting on the length of the national anthem for years. According to SportsLine, most betting sites had the Over/Under for the national anthem length set at one minute and 59 seconds for Sullivan and Church’s duet.
Four out of the last Star-Spangled Banner renditions at the Super Bowl lasted at least two minutes. Demi Lovato, who performed at last year’s game, sang for one minute and 50 seconds in February 2020.
While the national anthem isn’t typically performed by two artists at the Super Bowl, Church opened up to The Tennessean about his decision to accept the gig last month.
“When I heard [Jazmine], and then I heard the part — I got to play guitar on it — and got to make it a thing,” Church said. “It looked like the right moment from a unity standpoint in what I believe is a country that needs some unifying. It seemed like the right thing to do. Now it’s up to us. It’s all execution.”
The country singer added that it’s a “risk-reward” moment for the musicians.
“It’s a 10 degree of difficulty off the high dive. It’s tough. But I’m excited to go do it,” he said, hoping they deliver a “redeeming performance.”
While Church is the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, Sullivan is a 12-time Grammy winner who has written songs for Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson and Monica.
“We come from two very different backgrounds, (but) I find beauty in blending different lifestyles and different music (and) different art and making something special,” Sullivan told Associated Press earlier this month. “I definitely think that’s what we accomplished and I think it’ll be really good.”
Sullivan added that her parents will be in attendance with her at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
“This is a moment for all of us. They have supported me in this industry for so long,” she said. “The fact that I’m able to be on the biggest stage you can be on — this is an amazing thing to experience with them.”
