Brandi Carlile isn’t taking the easy route with “America the Beautiful.”
The powerhouse vocalist revealed she’s pushing her vocal limits for Super Bowl LX’s pre-game performance, placing the patriotic anthem “right at the ceiling” of her range.
But for Carlile, singing to over 125 million viewers isn’t just about hitting high notes—it’s about holding onto fragile hope during fractured times.
In a revealing conversation with Variety just days before her global TV moment, the Grammy-winning artist opened up about representation, activism, and why loving America right now means acknowledging it’s far from perfect.
Pushing Vocal Limits With Purpose
Despite her reputation for flawlessly delivering demanding performances like “The Joke” night after night, Carlile admitted she’s feeling pressure about Sunday’s performance.
No, I’m a little worried about it. I put it in a key that’s right at the ceiling there for me, and so I’m gonna come out swinging.
She’ll be accompanied by SistaStrings, creating what she describes as a “melodically centered version, instead of a rhythmically centered version” of the historic song.
While Carlile has sung “The Star Spangled Banner” multiple times—including for Seattle Storm games and a major Seahawks game in 2015—this marks her first public performance of “America the Beautiful.”
More Than Mountains And Amber Waves
The song clicked for Carlile years ago at a White House 4th of July celebration during Obama’s presidency, when Killers frontman Brandon Flowers performed it.
I just remember hearing it that way, as a modern song, and I was like, ‘Oh, that is a beautiful song’—beautiful melodically, and lyrically beautiful.
But Carlile’s connection goes deeper than melody. She’s drawn to lyrics most Americans never hear beyond the first verse—verses that acknowledge America’s flaws and call for divine intervention to mend them.
Lines like “God mend thine every flaw” and “Confirm thy soul in self-control / Thy liberty in law” carry particular weight in 2025’s divided landscape.
It almost feels like she was feeling the way about the country when she wrote it that I’m feeling today singing it. Just this fragile hope, love and belief in where it could be, and acknowledging where it’s been, and acknowledging that we’re not there yet.
A Queer Voice On America’s Biggest Stage
Representation matters profoundly to Carlile, especially now. Being openly gay and performing patriotic music during politically turbulent times isn’t lost on her.
She’s also drawn inspiration from songwriter Katharine Lee Bates herself—a social activist and poet who wrote “America the Beautiful” in 1893, and who many historians believe was gay.
Clearly gay. Totally gay!
Bates lived with her partner, Katharine Coman, and relied on her intellect during an era when women faced severe limitations. Yet she still chose to express love for America’s potential, even while experiencing oppression.
And still choosing—even in that total oppression; even not being able to be married; even not even being able to say that she was gay, or to be elevated to the heights that she probably deserved to be elevated to in politics—and, during those times, to still love America and to still believe that it could get to a place of goodness.
That parallel resonates deeply with Carlile’s own journey as a wife, mother, and activist navigating 2025’s challenges.
Navigating Controversy With Conviction
This year’s Super Bowl entertainment lineup has sparked debate from multiple angles. Some MAGA supporters have objected to Bad Bunny headlining halftime, even planning alternative programming.
Carlile acknowledged potential criticism from both ends of the political spectrum—conservatives questioning a gay woman singing patriotically, and progressive fans wondering if participating in nationalism is appropriate right now.
Her response? She answers to her own moral code.
The throughline to being queer and being a representative of a marginalized community and being put on the largest stage in America to acknowledge the fraught and tender hope that this country is based on, it’s something you don’t say no to. You do it.
She’s clear about not wanting to be seen as glossing over America’s problems, but equally clear that her activism won’t happen in comment sections.
I definitely don’t want to be seen as neoliberal or as someone who’s glossing over the problems that we have in this country. I want to be seen as one of the people that’s helping.
What The Super Bowl Lineup Represents
Carlile praised the eclectic entertainment roster featuring herself, Bad Bunny, Coco Jones, and Charlie Puth—a mix that’s drawn criticism in some quarters.
It looks exactly like America! It looks exactly like the United States. It looks like the players on the field, and it looks like the people that are watching the sport.
She called Bad Bunny “an incredible spirit and performer” and predicted a “fabulous halftime show.”
Hometown Heart, National Stage
As a lifelong Seattle Seahawks fan, Carlile admitted her enthusiasm for the assignment grew considerably when her team made it to Super Bowl LX.
People say to me, ‘Oh, isn’t it complicated and difficult to get involved in something like the Super Bowl in these times?’ And there’s a lot of validity to that observation. I don’t disagree. But it does get a little easier when it’s your team.
While she’s not allowed to wear Seahawks gear during her performance, she joked she’ll “have a Seahawks jersey on in my heart.”
No Rest For The Passionate
Immediately following her Super Bowl performance, Carlile launches her first-ever headlining arena tour in Philadelphia—just two nights later.
The tour previewed at her Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival in mid-January, where the production already appeared polished and well-rehearsed.
I’m so glad it came off as well-rehearsed to you. That was our first one, and then we had some rehearsals after that, and I think it’s even gotten better. So, yeah, I’m really anxious and excited to get out on the road.
Fragile Hope In Divided Times
Ultimately, Carlile’s Super Bowl moment represents something larger than entertainment or even representation—it’s about refusing to abandon belief in America’s promise, even when that promise feels distant.
The full lyrics of “America the Beautiful” reveal a song that’s always been aspirational rather than celebratory, calling for refinement of gold into nobleness and asking God to mend every flaw.
And I think if we’re gonna save this country as a people, we have to be reminded on some level that deep down we love it.
On Sunday, 125 million viewers will hear Brandi Carlile’s voice soar at the top of her range, carrying with it centuries of struggle, hope, and the complicated love song that is American patriotism.
For marginalized communities watching, seeing an openly gay woman stand on that stage singing about America’s potential—not its perfection—might just be the most American thing of all.