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Jon Batiste delivers stirring national anthem at Super Bowl

Jon Batiste delivers stirring national anthem at Super Bowl

Yahoo10-02-2025

The Brief
Louisiana featured some familiar faces for the Super Bowl national anthem and pregame show.
NEW ORLEANS - The Super Bowl pregame featured some Louisiana spice.
Singer-songwriter Jon Batiste performed the national anthem, with a few other Louisiana musicians joining in for the pregame show on Fox.
The backstory
Batiste, who grew up in the New Orleans area, is a Grammy and Oscar winning musician who got his start as the former bandleader for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."
His documentary "American Symphony" is nominated for best music film, and his "It Never Went Away" from the documentary is up for best song written for visual media at the upcoming Grammys.
He composed the score for Jason Reitman's film "Saturday Night" and this month released "Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1)," which reimagined the iconic German pianist's work.
Local perspective
The pregame performers are all Louisiana natives.
Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle performed "America the Beautiful."
Ledisi performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
Trombone Shorty, a Grammy winner known for blending funk, soul, R&B and rock, has toured with major acts such as Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters. Daigle made her way as a contemporary Christian singer, winning two Grammys for her 2018 song "You Say" from her third studio album, "Look Up Child."
Ledisi won a Grammy for her 2020 single "Anything for You." She also appeared in the films "Leatherheads," "Spinning Gold" and the Oscar-nominated "Selma."

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