Let the rejoicing rise.
R&B vocalist Ledisi performed the black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” ahead of the 2025 Super Bowl matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The 52-year-old wore all white and was joined by 125 New Orleans high school students for the performance, in honor of the hymn’s 125th anniversary.
The New Orleans native’s performance will be followed by Jon Batiste’s rendition of the National Anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Lauren Daigle and Trombone Shorty also will sing “America the Beautiful” before Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show with special guest SZA.
Originally penned as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson before being adopted as the official song of the NAACP in 1919.
Frequently invoked as a rallying cry during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, it was first performed at the Super Bowl in 2020 in the wake of protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd.
Born Ledisi Anibade Young in Super Bowl LIX’s host city of New Orleans, she grew up in Oakland, Calif., before finding success as a vocalist, songwriter, music producer, author and actress.
With 13 albums to her name, the 52-year-old chanteuse dropped her first LP — “Soulsinger” — in 2000. A 14-time Grammy nominee, she won her first gramophone in 2021 for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
