Super Bowl National Anthem 2019: Singer Info, Start Time and Prop Bet Lines

The national anthem has become a buzzword in and around the NFL in recent years, but the anthem has long been a popular subject for fans when it comes to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl LIII will see Atlanta native and "Empress of Soul" Gladys Knight take the microphone. This won't be the first time the NFL has chosen a hometown singer. Powerhouse examples include Beyonce singing the anthem before Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston and Detroit's Aretha Franklin for Super Bowl XL. 

Most recently, Jordin Sparks was tapped for Super Bowl XLII in her hometown Phoenix. 

Below is more information about Knight ahead of her performance, the start time of her performance on game day and five prop bets available.

All prop bets are via OddsShark. 

Singer Information

At 74 years old, Knight is a seven-time Grammy Award-winner with classic hits such as "Midnight Train to Georgia," which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. Gladys Knight and The Pips were inducted in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1996—one year after Knight got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In the NFL's official video announcing Knight as the anthem singer, the icon described her initial reluctance as a child to sing. It was her parents, she said, who taught her that her singing was a gift. She then transitions into a more somber tone about the discrimination she and The Pips faced once they left Atlanta. 

"If we played a concert," she remembered, "we did two shows. We did one for the caucasian people upstairs and one for the African-American people and people of color in the basement."

Knight noted that she and The Pips decided to buck against that back then. As for her audience now? "Oh my God, it's diverse."

Specific to her upcoming singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl LIII, Knight says, "I hope that this anthem will touch people in a different way. We've been singing it forever, but this time I would hope that they feel it so deeply that it would lift them to a higher place. That's what I feel when I sing this song.

"Get ready, Atlanta! I'm coming home!" 

In a statement first reported by Variety, Knight addressed the backlash from her decision to agree to sing the anthem at the Super Bowl—specifically naming Colin Kaepernick, who started the anthem protests in the NFL against social injustice and police brutality. 

In part, Knight said: 

"I understand that Mr. Kaepernick is protesting two things, and they are police violence and injustice," she wrote. “It is unfortunate that our national anthem has been dragged into this debate when the distinctive senses of the national anthem and fighting for justice should each stand alone.

I am here today and on Sunday, Feb. 3, to give the anthem back its voice, to stand for that historic choice of words, the way it unites us when we hear it and to free it from the same prejudices and struggles I have fought long and hard for all my life..." 

If after Super Bowl LIII you find yourself wanting to see Knight perform in person, there are 17 U.S. dates and cities to choose from through May 12. 

Start Time

Kick-off: 6:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta

Prop Bet Lines

How long will it take Gladys Knight to sing the anthem? Over (-160)/Under (+120) 1:47

Will Gladys Knight be wearing a skirt, dress or gown to sing the anthem? Yes (-175) or No (+135)

Will Gladys Knight forget or omit a word from the national anthem? Yes (+300) or No (-500)

Will any player take a knee during the national anthem? Yes (+400) or No (-700)

Will any scoring drive take less time than it takes Gladys Knight to sing the national anthem? Yes (-110) or No (-130)