Photo: Getty Images
Grammy award-winning vocalist and New Orleans native Ledisi delivered a captivating performance of the "Black National Anthem" at this year's Super Bowl.
Ahead of Super Bowl LIX's kickoff, Ledisi took to the field at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans to perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which was adopted over a century ago as the "Black National Anthem."
Ledisi's performance marked the fifth time the Super Bowl has featured the century-old hymn during its pregame ceremony. However, similar to Andra Day's rendition of the song last year, news of the performance sparked backlash on social media ahead of the Super Bowl.
"America only has ONE NATIONAL ANTHEM. Why is the NFL trying to divide us by playing multiple!? Do football, not wokeness," GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert wrote on X.
This year's criticism appears to be fueled by President Donald Trump's attempts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the federal government and beyond. Trump made history on Sunday (February 9) as the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl.
Donning an all-white outfit, Ledisi rose above the noise and gracefully belted the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" with assistance from 125 youth choir members from New Orleans. The performance honored the 125th anniversary of the hymn, which was initially written as a poem in 1900 by civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson.
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