In 2000, Faith Hill sang the National Anthem on arguably the biggest stage in the world: the Super Bowl.
She completely nailed this performance, with some people calling it the Gold Standard rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Speaking with Stephen Colbert, Hill reminisced on the experience, from the moment she accepted the offer.
“Singing the national anthem for the Super Bowl was terrifying,” she said. “However, when I sang it, the Tennessee Titans happened to make it to the Super Bowl that same year. And I had accepted the honor, I was asked, and I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, yes.’ And I was like what did I just do? It’s terrifying.”
She also explained that she took a boombox to the bathroom before her performance to rehearse and walked straight to the field from there. Colbert asked her if she was nervous that she’d forget the lyrics.
Hill explained that the lyrics weren’t an issue for her….this time.
“It’s one of those songs you know so well and you think I’ll never forget the lyrics,” she explained. “This happened to me before. It was at a playoff game many years prior. I was singing at a Dallas playoff game, the beginning of my career, and I was asked to sing the national anthem, playoff game. And I’m walking out to the center of the field with this very generous guard, this woman that was walking me out, and I say to her, and this is televised, ‘Would you happen to know just the first word of the national anthem?'”
Obviously, she finally figured out that the first word of the song is “Oh,” but she did have a backup plan! She said, “I’m just going to sing ‘Amazing Grace,’ because they’ll forgive me for that.”
Watch her full interview with Colbert below.