The National Football League announced yesterday that world-renowned "people's diva" Renée Fleming will sing the national anthem at Super Bowl XLVIII.
Her appearance will mark the first time that an opera singer has been invited to sing at the Super Bowl pre-game festivities. This year's game will be held in New Jersey's Metlife Stadium on February 2.
Past national anthem singers include many of the biggest names in popular music: Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Joel and Whitney Houston.
Fleming is a four-time Grammy winner, including the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo. She has performed at other major events worldwide, including the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II, the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and the Olympics in Beijing.
President Barack Obama awarded Fleming the National Medal of Arts in 2012, America's highest honor for a performing artist.
Fleming enjoys a busy international career singing in the world's great opera houses and recital halls. She is scheduled to play the title role in Dvořák's Rusalka at the Metropolitan Opera, which opens on Thursday.
She may be at the top of her rarefied profession, but she is also known as the "people's diva" for her more accessible projects. These include such recent endeavors as her appearance on the David Letterman Show to sing the Top 10 List, and her participation in comedy sketches during "Second City's Guide to the Opera"--a joint project of Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Second City comedy troupe.
And now, she will bring opera to the great American football shrine. Her Super Bowl performance should only enhance her status as America's mainstream diva.
