After unwrapping gifts, many families across the U.S. are nestling into their homes to watch some epic NFL matchups. Football is a cherished holiday tradition, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited even if it isn’t quite your thing. For example, Beyoncé will publicly perform songs from her groundbreaking Cowboy Carter album for the first time. And she will do so in her hometown of Houston, where the Texans take on the Baltimore Ravens at NRG Stadium. But first, Pentatonix kicked off the Christmas Day matchup with a soaring performance of the national anthem.
Pentatonix Kicks Off Christmas Day Football Frenzy
Three-time Grammy Award winners Pentatonix took the field Wednesday (Dec. 25) at NRG Stadium ahead of the Texans-Ravens game. Seamlessly blending harmonies—and doing so completely without instrumental backing—the quintet delivered a spine-chilling rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“pentatonix should just be all time national anthem singers,” one /Twitter user wrote.
Formed in 2011, vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola make up Pentatonix. Breathing new life into a genre previously restricted to high school choir rooms, the quintet has sold more than 10 million albums. Additionally, they made history as “the first a cappella act to win ‘Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella’ at the GRAMMY® Awards” in 2015 and 2016.
Not only does the Arlington-based group have ties to Texas, Christmas Day is also significant for their fanbase. Pentatonix has released multiple successful Christmas albums, including the platinum-selling That’s Christmas To Me in 2014.
Will Their Paths Cross With Queen Bey’s?
When the official NFL Instagram account announced Pentatonix’s performance on Dec. 19, many of the group’s fans had the same burning question on their minds. “@scotthoying omg is this the day that you finally meet Beyoncé,” one Instagram user wrote.
Apparently, Pentatonix vocalist Scott Hoying has long been dying to meet the Cowboy Carter superstar.
“We had a chance four times. I’ve been this close to her,” Hoying told HuffPost in 2017. “When she was pregnant in the gold Grammys moment she was backstage [and] we were this close and I was like, ‘Ugh, do I say anything? Do I do it?’”
Alas, he lost his nerve. “But she just looked like a goddess and I felt not worthy to say hi,” he continued. “So I didn’t, I just walked away.”
