It seems like Taylor Swift’s declaration has come true.
In fact, the NFL agrees that Charlie Puth is a big enough artist to open up the 2026 Super Bowl, as they announced Nov. 30 he will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the event.
Following the announcement, though, one unenthused critic saw the selection of the “We Don’t Talk Anymore” singer as a sign that society has “fallen from when Whitney Houston sang” the national anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl, writing on X (formerly Twitter) Dec. 1, “He’s not gonna give us vocals I’m afraid.”
Despite the dig, Charlie saw the moment as an opportunity to calm fans’ concerns about his duty to kick off the big game in February.
“I’ll never claim to be as good of a singer as Whitney Houston ever was,” he responded on X. “But I assure you we’re putting a really special arrangement together—in D major.”
The 33-year-old even added, “It’ll be one of my best vocal performances.”
While Charlie—whose rendition of the national anthem will be in addition to Brandi Carlile and Coco Jones’ performances of “America the Beautiful” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” respectively—is confident in his ability to pull it off, he’s aware of the enormity of the task at hand. In fact, he had some fun explaining how difficult a song “The Star-Spangled Banner” is.
