Those Who Sang at the Super Bowl

This may be a late post in relation to the Super Bowl but since the said event is not yet over, I may as well guess that  this could still be in season and timely. 

According to Wikipedia the Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year.

The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15, 1967, following the regular season played in 1966, while Super Bowl XLV was played on February 6, 2011, to determine the champion of the 2010 regular season.

Remember who was the latest artist who sung this Super Bowl season? Yeah, Cristina Aguilera. And her performance was a great sensation that it also received great criticisms and disapproval.

The pop star sung "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming" instead of "O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming". Even the New York Times reported that she also changed “gleaming” into “reaming”.

The most famous performance though, was from Whitney Houston and yet, this too, was full of controversy. It was rumoured and proven that Ms. Houston lip synced her performance. Same with Jennifer Hudson.

Here, I'll recap who are those artists who sang the National Anthem of America with great fervour and those who made it a great fiasco.

She performed on 1982 during the Super Bowl XVI at Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan. She was a singer and an actress.

She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her 1972 role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, for which she won a Golden Globe award. She won 8 awards American Music Awards, garnered twelve Grammy Award nominations, and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977.With a career total 18 #1 records, Diana Ross is considered the most successful female recording artist of the twentieth century.

He performed on 1984 during the Super Bowl XVIII at Tampa Stadium, Tampa. According from Mr. Wiki, in 1978, five of his albums were on the best-selling charts simultaneously, a feat equalled only by Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Mathis. He has recorded a string of Billboard hit singles and multi-platinum albums that have resulted in his being named Radio & Records number one Adult Contemporary artist and winning three straight American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.

Super Bowl XX, 1986, Superdome, New Orleans Wynton Marsalis

He didn't sing, though he performed an amazing rendition through his trumpet of the America's national anthem. He has been awarded nine Grammys in both genres, and was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize for Music for a jazz recording.

Super Bowl XXV, 1991, Tampa Stadium, Tampa

Houston is the most awarded female artist of all time, according to Guinness World Records,with 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 411 career awards as of 2006. Houston is also one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums and singles worldwide.

Though, the controversy of lip syncing made a bad impression of her performance, it didn't hide the fact, that her rendition was considered as the best in Super Bowl history.

Super Bowl XXVIII, 1994, Georgia Dome, Atlanta

The daughter of Nat King Cole. In the 1990s, she re-recorded standards by her father, resulting in her biggest success, “Unforgettable... with Love”, which sold over seven million copies and also won Cole numerous Grammy Awards. Her rendition of the national anthem is quite a good one.

Super Bowl XXX, 1996, Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe            

She was the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a certain controversy caused her to hand over her title early. Williams recovered, though by launching a career as an entertainer, earning Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award nominations.

Super Bowl XXXI, 1997, Superdome, New Orleans

Throughout his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times. He won four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for the track "Dance with My Father", which was co-written with Richard Marx. Personally speaking, I love his version and rendition.

Super Bowl XXXIII, 1999, Pro Player Stadium, Miami        

She is known as the “Goddess of Pop”. She won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in film, music and television. A well received performance in the film Silkwood earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1984. In the following years, Cher starred in a string of hit films including Mask, The Witches of Eastwick, and Moonstruck, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1988.

Super Bowl XXXIV, 2000, Georgia Dome, Atlanta              

She has sold more than 40 million records globally and gathered 8 number-one singles and 3 number-one albums on the U.S. Country charts. She has been honoured by the Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association, the American Music Awards and the People's Choice Awards. Her Soul2Soul II Tour 2006 with husband McGraw became the highest-grossing country tour of all time. In 2001, she was named one of the "30 Most Powerful Women in America" by Ladies Home Journal. In 2009 Billboard named her as the #1 Adult Contemporary artist of the decade 2000-2009. Hill was ranked the 39th best artist of the 2000-10 decade by Billboard.

Super Bowl XXXV, 2001, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa

The first boy band who sang the national anthem during a Super Bowl opening. The Backstreet Boys had sold over 130 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band of all time. According to Billboard, they are the first group since Sade to have their first seven albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200.

Super Bowl XXXVI, 2002, Superdome, New Orleans

She is the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. In a career spanning over two decades, and being dubbed the best singer of all time, Carey has sold more than 200 million albums, singles and videos worldwide, according to Island Def Jam, which made her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Carey was cited as the world’s best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the 1998 World Music Awards and was also named the best-selling female artist of the millennium by the same award-giving body in 2000. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the third-best-selling female artist, with shipments of 63 million albums. In 2008, Carey earned her eighteenth number one single on the Hot 100, the most by any solo artist. Aside from her commercial accomplishments, she has earned five Grammy Awards and is known for her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style and use of the whistle register.

With regards to her rendition of the national anthem, it was equally amazing as Whitney Houston's performance. Well, that is just a personal opinion, eh.

Super Bowl XXXVII, 2003, Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego

Dixie Chicks achieved massive country music and pop success, beginning in 1998 with hit songs like "Wide Open Spaces", "Cowboy Take Me Away", and "Long Time Gone". The women also became well-known for their independent spirit and controversial comments on subjects such as war and politics. As of 2009, they have won 13 Grammy Awards, with 5 of them earned in 2007 including the coveted Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Taking The Long Way. As of July 2010, with 30.5 million certified albums, and sales of 26,733,000 albums in the U.S., they have become the top selling all-female band in the U.S. during the Nielsen SoundScan era. They have a superb harmony in their rendition of the national anthem.

Super Bowl XXXVIII, 2004, Reliant Stadium, Houston       

Beyonce has earned numerous awards and tributes. She is one of the most honoured artists by the Grammys, and third among female artists, with a total of 16 Grammy Awards — 13 as a solo artist and 3 as a member of Destiny's Child. In 2007, she became the first female artist to be awarded the International Artist Award at the American Music Awards. Knowles was ranked the 4th Artist of the 2000s decade by Billboard and was listed the most successful female artist of the decade, as well as the top radio artist of the decade. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), listed Knowles as the top certified artist of the decade. To date, she has sold 75 million records worldwide making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Super Bowl XLI, 2007, Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens 

This was his twice appearance at the Super Bowl. He first sang during Super Bowl XXIII at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to the RIAA. Joel had Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the United States, all of which he wrote singlehandedly. He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner, a 23-time Grammy nominee and has sold over 150 million records worldwide. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999), the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2006) and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame (2009). Joel "retired" from recording pop music in 1993 but continues to tour (often with Elton John).

Super Bowl XLII, 2008, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale

At 17, she was considered as the youngest winner of the American Idol history. Following her American Idol victory, her self-titled debut album in 2007 was released, which has gone platinum in the U.S. and has sold around 2 million copies worldwide. Sparks' single, "No Air" is the highest selling single by any American Idol contestant, selling about 4 million digital copies worldwide. Due to the success of her debut album and its four top 20 singles, she has received numerous awards and nominations including an American Music Award in 2008 and her first Grammy nomination in 2009.

Super Bowl XLIII, 2009, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa              

Another American Idol finalist, Hudson came made her film debut in the 2006 film Dreamgirls which won her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, an NAACP Image Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She won a Grammy Award for her eponymous debut album, “Jennifer Hudson”, which was released in 2008 on Arista Records and was certified gold by the RIAA for selling over 700,000 copies in the US; sales exceeded 1 million copies worldwide. 

Super Bowl XLIV, 2010, Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens             

Like Sparks and Hudson, Underwood rose to fame through the American Idol. She has since become a multi-platinum selling recording artist, a multiple Grammy Award winner, a Grand Ole Opry inductee, a Golden Globe Award nominee, a three-time Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Female Vocalist winner, a GMA Dove award winner, and is also the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year. She is the first ever female artist to win back-to-back Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards for Entertainer of the Year (2009/2010). Having 10 #1 Hits on Billboard Hot Country Songs, Underwood is tied with Reba McEntire as the Female Country Artist with Most #1 Hits on such chart from 1990 to present. She's also the only solo Country Artist to have a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100 Songs in the 2000 decade, as "Inside Your Heaven" reached the top of the chart on July 2005. Some Hearts, Underwood's debut album, was named the Best Country Album of the 2000 Decade by Billboard, and she's the only Female Artist to appear on the Top 10 of Billboard's Best Country Artists of the 2000 Decade list, ranked at #10. She was also ranked #50 on the Artists of the Decade list by Billboard. In 2010, Underwood was #3 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs Artists, #4 on the Top Country Album Artists and #23 on Top Artists of 2010.

Super Bowl XLV, 2011, Cowboys Stadium, Arlington,TX

She made her feature film debut in the musical Burlesque (2010), earning Aguilera a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. Aguilera's work has earned her numerous awards and praise, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, four Grammy Awards and a Latin Grammy Award, amongst fifteen and three nominations respectively. Rolling Stone ranked her number fifty-eight on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, ranking as the youngest and only artist on the list under the age of thirty. She was ranked the 20th Artist of the 2000–09 decade by Billboard and is the second top selling single artist of the 2000s behind Madonna. Aguilera has sold over 46 million of albums worldwide making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Her rendition is quite good, yet what made it wrong was she fumbled at the wrong words, which I think is very...WRONG and a big NO-NO, especially when you sing the song of your ancestors and your country, eh.