Are you ready for some Carrie Underwood? I mean, are you ready for some Sunday Night Football? I mean, are you ready for both?
Sunday Night Football producer Fred Gaudelli said in conference call just a short while ago that pop-country music star Carrie Underwood has been brought on board this season to perform the SNF opening anthem, I’ve Been Waiting All Day for Sunday Night after Faith Hill decided last month to relinquish the job after six years of kicking off the show.
Below is the press release concerning the announcement.
NEW YORK – May 7, 2013 – NBC selected six-time Grammy Award-winner and multi-platinum recording artist, Carrie Underwood, to perform “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” the opening theme for primetime television’s No. 1 program, Sunday Night Football on NBC. Country music superstar Underwood, the season-four winner of American Idol, makes her Sunday Night Football debut on Sunday, September 8 on NBC’s first SNF broadcast of the 2013 NFL season, a heated NFC East rivalry game when Dallas Cowboys host the New York Giants. The opening theme will continue each week kicking off Sunday Night Football every Sunday night throughout the NFL season on NBC.
“I am thrilled to be a part of NBC’s Sunday Night Football and am so honored they asked me,” said Underwood. “I have always loved football season, and it is so exciting to now become part of it every Sunday night!”
Since winning American Idol and releasing her debut album in 2005, Underwood has sold over 15 million albums, and placed 17 No. 1 singles on the charts. Her recent album, Blown Away, made history by debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart, making Underwood only the second country artist in the 47-year history of the chart to have each of their first four albums debut at No. 1.
“Carrie Underwood was our first and only choice to perform the Sunday Night Football opening,” said SNF producer Fred Gaudelli. “She’s one of America’s most popular entertainers and the perfect fit for our show.”
The now platinum-selling Blown Away album also debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, making Underwood only the second country artist in history to have three consecutive albums debut at No. 1. She is a six-time Grammy winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time Country Music Association and ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry.
“Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” is set to the original Joan Jett song, “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and marks Underwood’s first production with NBC Sports. From 2007-2012, the song was performed by music superstar Faith Hill and in 2006, the inaugural season of Sunday Night Football, Pink performed the open.
Underwood is currently headlining and selling out arenas across North America on her “Blown Away Tour.” The tour, which launched last June, has played in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Ireland, and Australia, and will perform a total of 112 dates by the time is wraps on May 23 in Abbotsford, BC, Canada.
Sunday Night Football, which averaged 21.8 million viewers in the 2012 season, is primetime television’s No. 1 program.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are scheduled to play on Sunday night two times in 2013 with their first appearance scheduled to be in Week 3 at home against the Chicago Bears. In addition to that, the Steelers will also host the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15 on Sunday night.
