Watch Queen Latifah Sing the National Anthem at the Giants-Cowboys Sunday Night Football Game
When talking about versatile entertainers, Queen Latifah‘s name definitely makes the list. The Grammy-winning rapper and Oscar-nominated actress reminded New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium of her talent with a winning rendition of the national anthem at the New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday night (Sep. 10).
Donning a spiffy ivory checkered pantsuit, Queen Latifah soared through a moving jazz and musical theater-informed arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The New Jersey native was at ease behind the microphone, delivering a pitch-perfect performance that elicited impassioned cheers from the packed stadium by the final note.
Queen’s performance drew some surprise on social media from viewers who were not aware of her singing abilities. In addition to her hip-hop career — which yielded the Grammy-winning “U.N.I.T.Y.” and All Hail the Queen, which was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress earlier this year — Queen Latifah has dabbled in jazz, film and television.
In 2004, she released The Dana Owens album, a covers set that reached No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and earned a Grammy nomination for best jazz vocal album. A second jazz album, Trav’lin’ Light, followed in 2008, earning a Grammy nomination for best traditional pop vocal album. Years before Queen tried her hand at jazz, she earned her first Academy Award nomination for her dazzling performance in 2002’s Chicago. The artist, who won an Emmy in 2016 for producing the acclaimed Bessie television movie, currently stars in The Equalizer on CBS.
Watch Queen Latifah perform the national anthem below:
Kyle-Brandon Denis
Billboard
