- The Washington Times - Sunday, February 7, 2021

With Super Bowl LV approaching, so are the pregame staples, such as the national anthem. Sunday’s national anthem will be performed as a duet from Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan.

The pair are both Grammy-nominated artists, joining a star-studded musical cast for the NFL’s biggest game — The Weeknd is performing the halftime show. The CBS kickoff show starts at 6 p.m.

Sullivan broke onto the scene in 2008 when her first album “Fearless” reached the top of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop album chart. She released an EP in January, “Heaux Tales,” which reached No. 4 on the U.S. top album charts.

Church is an accomplished country star. He won the Country Music Awards’ Album of the Year in 2016 for “Mr. Misunderstood,” and he’s set to release a three-album set named “Heart & Soul” in April with 24 tracks.

Church released a new song Friday called “Lynyrd Skynyrd Jones.” “[It] was such a tough one for us to get, but it ended up as one of my favorite performances of my career,” Church said in a statement. Some of Church’s best-known songs include “Drink in My Hand” and “Give Me Back My Hometown.” He’s won seven ACM Awards and is a 10-time Grammy nominee.

Ahead of the national anthem, H.E.R. will perform “America the Beautiful.” H.E.R., 23, won the 2018 Grammy award for best R&B album with her self-titled debut album. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her original song, “Fight For You,” from the movie Judas and the Black Messiah.

• Andy Kostka can be reached at akostka@washingtontimes.com.

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