Grammy Award-winning songstress Tori Kelly will sing the national anthem ahead of the bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul on Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Kelly, 31, initially made the announcement on Instagram, alongside Netflix, which is broadcasting the live event between Tyson and Paul. Kelly shared behind-the-scenes footage of her rehearsing the anthem inside the boxing ring.
Performing the national anthem at sporting events is nothing new for Kelly. She previously sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers’ opening night matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019. She also sang the anthem at the 2021 Kentucky Derby and ahead of a ‘Sunday Night Football’ matchup between the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers in January 2022.
“I love singing the national anthem,’ Kelly told USA TODAY in 2021. “Keeping it simple and not doing too much is the key.’
Here’s everything you need to know about Kelly:
Who is Tori Kelly?
Kelly appeared on several singing competition shows early in her life, including ‘Star Search’ (2003) and ‘America’s Most Talented Kid’ (2004), but she first gained recognition in 2010 after auditioning for season nine of ‘American Idol’ at age 16. She sang ‘Gravity’ by John Mayer and advanced to Hollywood week, despite judge Simon Cowell saying her voice was ‘almost annoying.’ The aspiring singer failed to make the Top 24.
Kelly started posting covers on YouTube soon after and quickly amassed over a million subscribers. She signed with Capitol Records in 2013 and went on to release five studio albums: Unbreakable Smile (2015), Hiding Place (2018), Inspired by True Events (2019), A Tori Kelly Christmas (2020) and Tori. (2024).
Her 2018 album Hiding Place earned Kelly her first Grammy for Best Gospel Album in 2019. She picked up another trophy for Best Gospel Performance for ‘Never Alone’ featuring Kirk Franklin, which marked her first No. 1 single on the US Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart. Kelly has earned a total of five Grammy nominations throughout her career, including Best New Artist in 2016.
Kelly also has some film credits to her name. She loaned her voice to the musical comedy ‘Sing’ (2016) and ‘Sing 2’ (2021).
Watch Tori Kelly’s national anthem performance
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
