Country singer Mickey Guyton has been praised across social media for her “incredible” rendition of the United States national anthem at the Super Bowl in Los Angeles today (13 February).
Actor Reese Witherspoon was among those who reacted, tweeting: “Wow @MickeyGuyton ! What a way to start the #SuperBowl”.
Elsewhere on Twitter, user @DanteTheDon posted: “What an INCREDIBLE National Anthem!!! Perfectly done. Perfect harmony. Amazing voice on Mickey Guyton.”
Meanwhile, sports anchor Joe Trahan tweeted that the performance was a “goosebump moment”.
Others put it more succinctly, tweeting that Guyton “crushed that National Anthem”.
Ahead of the performance, Guyton gave an interview to The New York Post about what the opportunity meant to her.
“It’s Black History Month, and a Black country singer gets to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. Wow,” she said.
“This is a huge moment for me. It’s a huge moment for Black people. And I want to represent that in the best possible way that I can.”
Guyton, who was the first Black female artist ever to be nominated for the Grammy Award in the Best Country Solo Performance category, added that her backing choir was specifically chosen to be representative of America.
“I set my intentions with singing the national anthem. I was like, ‘OK, togetherness is what I really want,’” she added. “So, I felt the way that people would feel togetherness is if I had a choir, with people that I believe represent America. And, you know, I have everybody from my black queen to a redneck cowboy to a girl that has one leg in this choir. And that’s the America that I’m proud of — us all standing together. We all belong.”
This year’s Super Bowl halftime show is being headlined by Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and Mary J Blige.
Follow live updates for the Super Bowl halftime show here.
