Charlie Puth is gearing up to step onto the biggest stage at Super Bowl LX on Sunday, February 8, where he will perform The National Anthem (“The Star-Spangled Banner”). The Big Game will feature the Seattle Seahawks facing off against the New England Patriots.
The 34-year-old pop sensation opened up about his upcoming performance of the patriotic track during the Apple Music Halftime Show press conference.
He started by discussing that it is nerve-wracking as he approaches his televised performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” He explained, “This is a very musically difficult song to sing. I know it’s early in the morning right now, so we don’t want to get to music theory right now, but if the song’s in D major and you know ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow,’ that’s a hard song to sing, and you’re jumping 8, 12, [or] however many notes. Oh, you’re hitting five more notes above the octave, and that’s incredibly difficult. But I think it’s just important not to oversing it.”
He is ready, though, as he has been practicing in the shower and during his alone time in the car. “I think the best way for me specifically to approach… The arrangement is everything for me. I always reverse engineer how I hear my own music in my head, and then it’s kind of just like pulling it apart and making it a feasible product to hold. So I’ve been rehearsing this in my head for months, if that makes sense,” Puth explained of honoring the song’s composition but also making it his own.
He also revealed that despite having a slew of hits to his name and being a massive star, he personally requested to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. To do so, he submitted a demo of himself singing the tune to Roc Nation for consideration.
“I’ve actually always wanted to do this. I recorded a little demo, just me singing with the Rhodes [keyboard], and sent it to [co-founder] Jay Brown at Roc Nation. I’ve been told this, I don’t know if it’s true, but he played it for Jay-Z, and Jay-Z loved it. And it got to [NFL Commissioner Roger] Goodell, and they all said that I could do it,” Puth previously explained to Rolling Stone.
As for what viewers can expect from his performance, Puth vows that he will be singing live and will not be using pre-recorded vocals. “They’ll pre-record bits of it,” he continued. “It’s impossible to mic an orchestra and expect that it’s going to sound good in a stadium that’s filled with 100,000 people that are going to be cheering the whole time. We’ll probably record a violin twice or something, just because I want people to hear the strings. But I’ll be singing. The mic will be on.”
“I just want to show people that I can do it,” he admitted to Rolling Stone, despite it being a difficult song to sing due to its three-octave range. “I feel like people don’t really think of me as a standalone vocalist at times… It’ll be pressure the week leading up to it and the hour leading up to it, but once I’m there, it’s going to feel so comfortable, and it’s going to sound so good.”
He hopes people “feel inspired” after his rendition of the nation’s anthem. “I want them to feel inspired, [and] I want everybody to know that music is such an amazing thing and can change so many people’s lives. I mean, other than food, it’s the thing that we can all… it’s like everybody loves music. I’ve never met someone who doesn’t love music. And I just think it can color every aspect of your day so vividly. And it’s such an honor to sit here and talk to you about how I’m singing, how we’re all… I mean, we probably share that same feeling,” Puth said during the press conference while seated alongside fellow pregame performers Charlie Puth and Coco Jones.
Charlie Puth will become the first New Jersey native to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl since Whitney Houston’s iconic rendition in 1991. “I’m going to be inspired by what Whitney did, but I can’t ever touch what Whitney did,” Puth added during his interview with the media outlet. “That’s the best one ever done—that and the Chris Stapleton one [in 2023]. That was raw. It was wonderful. Made grown men cry. But the Whitney version, man, no one will ever touch that.”
He will also follow in the footsteps of Jon Batiste, Reba McEntire, Chris Stapleton, Mickey Guyton, Eric Church & Jazmine Sullivan, Demi Lovato, Gladys Knight, Pink, Luke Bryan, Lady Gaga, Idina Menzel, Renee Fleming, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, and more, who have performed The National Anthem at a Super Bowl.
Charlie Puth is also gearing up to release his fourth studio album, Whatever’s Clever!, on March 27 via Atlantic Records. The project will feature 12 tracks, including the album’s first single, “Changes,” as well as “Beat Yourself Up” and “Cry (featuring Kenny G),” as well as 7 collaborations, which have yet to be announced. He will also take Whatever’s Clever! on the road for a headlining arena tour, dubbed Whatever’s Clever! World Tour, kicking off on April 22 at the Viejas Arena in San Diego. Produced by Live Nation, the 34-date North American Tour will wrap up June 13 at 713 Music Hall in Houston, Texas. Daniel Seavey, Lawrence, and Ally Sallort will serve as special guests on select dates.
In addition to Charlie Puth, pregame talent for Super Bowl LX includes Brandi Carlile, who will perform “America The Beautiful,” and Coco Jones, who is set to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Meanwhile, Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.
Super Bowl LX is set for February 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, featuring the Seattle Seahawks facing off against the New England Patriots. The game will air on NBC and stream on Peacock, with pregame coverage beginning at 1 p.m. EST. Brandi Carlile is scheduled to perform “America the Beautiful” shortly before the 6:30 p.m. EST kickoff.
