The Super Bowl isn’t just the peak moment on the American sports calendar, it’s a cultural event that brings together some of the highest-profile names in entertainment. And those celebrities aren’t all just there to watch the game and take in the hoopla, as they’re contributing to the festivities too. Which icon will be performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” ahead of kickoff?
Who Is Singing ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ for Super Bowl 57?
Emmy-award-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph will be performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” during the pregame events at Super Bowl 57. Ralph has built an accomplished rèsumè across the stage, movies, and television in addition to releasing two studio albums as a singer.
Some of Ralph’s most-notable performances include the mockumentary series Abbot Elementary, for which she won an Emmy Award in 2022 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and is nominated for an NAACP Image Award, and the broadway production Dreamgirls, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award in 1982.
Ralph was the first black woman to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 35 years.
Ralph also received five NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the television sitcom Moesha.
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The 66-year-old actress’ career on Broadway continued after a 14-year hiatus when she earned the role of Madame Morrible in Wicked, a role she played for two years. She’s since produced two original broadway productions, Thoughts of a Colored Man and Ohio State Murders.
As a musician, Ralph has released two studio albums. The first, In the Evening, had two songs that peaked on the Billboard U.S. Dance Charts, “In the Evening” (sixth) and “You’re So Romantic” (37th). Famed saxophonist Trevor Lawrence (no, not that Trevor Lawrence) produced and arranged the album with Ralph.
She was honored in 2022 with a TV Humanitarian Award and the Elizabeth Taylor Commitment to End AIDS Award from the Creative Coalition and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, respectively, for her work with her organization, D.I.V.A. (Divinely Inspired Victoriously Aware), which raises awareness and support for HIV/AIDS research.
Who Wrote ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’?
‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ was penned by writer and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson in 1900 and is accompanied by music from his brother, composer J. Rosamond Johnson. James originally wrote the lyrics as a poem, inspired by the struggles that African-Americans endured during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War.
In part due to promotion of the song by the NAACP in the late 1910s, it soon grew substantially in popularity, particularly in African-American communities. Over the ensuing decades, many prominent artists have covered the song.
Melba Moore released a modern rendition in 1990 that was recorded with contributions from a litany of famous artists, including Stevie Wonder, Bobby Brown, Jeffrey Osborne, and Anita Baker. Following the release of her version, the song was entered into the Congressional Record by House of Representatives delegate Walter Fauntroy.
As part of a social justice campaign, the NFL announced that the song would be played or performed before every Week 1 game of the 2020 season. The league has since featured “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at other major league events, including Super Bowl LV and the NFL Draft.
