Who on Earth is Renée Fleming? And what does she have to do with football?
That’s the question millions of football fans are asking. Fleming has just been selected to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, even though this opera singer doesn’t have the mainstream recognition of previous anthem warblers like Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. We’ll bet she doesn’t fudge the lyrics (like Christina Aguilera) or lip-sync (like Jennifer Hudson).
Now’s the time to get better acquainted with Ms. Fleming. Watch and listen.
A lyric soprano, Fleming is an international diva and performs all over the world. But her home base is New York’s own Metropolitan Opera, where connoisseurs dissect her appearances with the obsessive enthusiasm of sports freaks studying stats. Here she sings the final aria in Handel’s “Rodelinda.”
Fleming has a healthy sense humor. Just check out her performance of the top-10 opera lyrics on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” in September 2013.
Admittedly only opera fans will find this show high-larious but hey, Renée shared yucks with Patrick Stewart!
La Fleming can rock! OK, not really. But she did try, recording the album of covers “Dark Hope” back in 2010. Here’s her take on Muse’s “Endlessly.”
Can’t remember how many beers you have to buy before the game? Renée explains how to count!