Charley Pride Was The First Solo Artist To Sing The National Anthem Before The Super Bowl
on Feb 09, 2024 • Updated Feb 03, 2026
Charley Pride Paved A Path For All Future Super Bowl National Anthem Performers To Follow
Charley Pride was a pioneer in many ways, including when it came to performing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.
As one of only a few black artists in country music during his era, Pride knew that it would be a challenge to make a name for himself in the genre.
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It was a challenge that he was more than willing to meet, and his efforts paid off. By the time of his death in 2020, he had earned more accolades than we could even begin to count. He was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Pride became a barrier-breaking artist in country music, in more ways than one.
An Iconic Anthem Performance
Today, the Super Bowl is the largest sporting event of the year, at least in the U.S.
But back in 1974, “The Big Game” was still a fairly new concept, only in its eighth year. Pride got the chance to perform the National Anthem prior to the game that year, and he made history in the process.
The reason why Pride’s performance was so noteworthy is because he was the first-ever country singer to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. But not only that, he was the first-ever solo artist of any genre to sing the National Anthem prior to the Super Bowl.
His powerful, confident performance was met with thunderous rounds of applause. He set the bar high for all artists to follow.
More Artists Follow Charley’s Lead
Since then, nine other country singers have performed the National Anthem prior to the Super Bowl. Those artists are Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, The Chicks, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Mickey Guyton, Chris Stapleton, and Reba McEntire.
But as the first country artist to ever do so, Pride’s Super Bowl performance will forever be one of the most memorable.
Tune in to the video below so you can relive the extraordinary moment that Pride changed country music history with the performance of a single song.
He starts off singing “America the Beautiful” before performing The National Anthem.
