Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty
Jhené Aikokicked offSuper Bowl LVIon a high note with a soaring rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
The R&B singer, a Los Angeles native, took the field at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Sunday, as the Los Angeles Rams are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Aiko, 33, previously expressed her excitement after her performance was announced, revealing she had a personal connection to this year’s game, as her dad is from Cincinnati and her mother hails from Los Angeles.
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“my Daddy’s from Cincinnati… Mom is from L.A 🥰 America the Beautiful 😍 Only 12 days until the big game 😬 SEE YOU THERE!” she wrote onsocial media.
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Country singer Mickey Guyton followed Aiko’s performance with arendition of the national anthem, while Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar are set to perform later in the night during the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show.
The Super Bowl is certainly a large stage for the Grammy-nominated Aiko,who shared in Marchthat her various struggles and anxieties in life have made her uncomfortable “with any type of spotlight.”
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She noted that she’s sought refuge in music, and at times feels “confident enough to be myself… shy, awkward and ALL… and step into the light.”
“I’ve always felt the urge to express myself [musically] with the intention to overcome my emotions and to share those expressions with the intention to help others. But anxiety, sensitivity, unhealed trauma and feelings of not belonging or ever being enough kept me from fully accepting or being comfortable with any type of spotlight,” she wrote on Instagram ahead of her 33rd birthday. “I will never be perfect, nor do I ever want to be seen as such… but when u see me, know u are looking at a fighter. And I know u are fighting too. So when u see me I hope you also see you.”
Super Bowl LVI is airing live from Los Angeles on NBC.
source: people.com
