Coco Jones stepped onto the field and delivered a measured, stirring rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” sometimes known as the “Black National Anthem.”
Jones, a Grammy-winning singer and actress, wore a flowing white gown accented with thin red, black, green, and blue sequin lines. Backed by a live string ensemble, she kept the performance restrained and focused, letting the song’s words and history do the work.
“Lift Every Voice and Sing” holds a singular place in American music and history. Written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson in 1900 and later set to music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, the hymn was first performed by hundreds of schoolchildren in Jacksonville, Florida, to mark Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
Over time, it became a song passed through Black communities across the country, eventually adopted by the NAACP as its official song in 1919.
Decades later, it emerged as a defining anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, sung in churches, schools, at protests, and at public gatherings.
In the modern era, the song has taken on renewed visibility at major national events. The NFL began incorporating it into marquee games in 2020, and it has appeared at every Super Bowl pregame ceremony since 2021.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the game, Jones described what the moment meant to her. “Just representing my culture well is always something that I’ve strived to do since I was a little girl in this industry,” she said. “So to be able to do that on such a huge stage, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Jones was part of a stacked Super Bowl LX lineup that included Green Day leading the pregame festivities, Charlie Puth performing the national anthem, and Brandi Carlile singing “America the Beautiful.”
Bad Bunny, of course, headlined the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.