Chris Stapleton can sing just about anything, but there is one song he says he will never, ever sing again. After performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 2023, the Kentucky native says his days of performing the notoriously-challening song are over, for good.
“I would have people ask me to sing the national anthem for various things,” Stapleton recalls on the Dirty Mo Media podcast (via WKML). “I jokingly always said, ‘No, I’ll just do it when it’s time to do it at the Super Bowl.’”
“I’d just turn it down a lot,” he adds. “And I do say now that I have officially retired from it as well.”
Stapleton, a veteran performer, rarely gets nervous, but even he admits that he had a lot of anxiety leading up to that performance.
‘That one, I was like, ‘I was gonna make sure I’m as prepared as I can be,'” he shares. Lauded as one of the best national anthem performances of all time, bringing tears to the eyes of some of the players, the humble singer deflects taking all of the credit for his stellar performance.
“I’m not saying my version wasn’t good,” Stapleton says, “I think it was good, but all the TV editing that they did while I was doing it was just spot-on.”
If anyone was going to sing the national anthem again, Stapleton would be a perfect candidate. The 46-year-old is currently enjoying his seventh time as the reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year, a category he has won in every year consecutively since 2021.
“I’m out of things to say,” Stapleton said when accepting the trophy. “I love all of y’all so much. Thank you CMAs for giving me this award. Thank you to everybody that voted for me. I’m honored to be in the category with all the other guys in the category. I love my wife. Thank you, baby, for everything. I can’t do this without you, and I probably wouldn’t even be here without you. All my kids at home, thank you. I love you guys. If you’re watching, go to bed now. I’m really honored for this. Thank you very much.”
Stapleton has a Top 15 hit right now with “Think I’m In Love With You.” Stapleton penned the song with his wife, Morgane, and his producer, Dave Cobb, inspired by Morgane, whom he wed in 2007.
“From a work standpoint, we’re a married couple. And like anybody else, we might be getting on each other’s nerves or something,” Stapleton tells Cowboys & Indians. “But if we’re away from each other for more than two days — because we do work, live, and raise children together — on the rare occasion we’re apart, we’re sort of like teenagers. We’re like, ‘I miss you,’ and, ‘I miss you too.’ And that’s a really sweet and wonderful thing.”
Find all of Stapleton’s music and upcoming shows at ChrisStapleton.com.