“We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist,” Taylor Swift sings in “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Now, Puth has stepped onto what will likely be one of the biggest stages of his career: Performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.
Ahead of the showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots on Sunday, the 34-year-old singer-songwriter from New Jersey performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” — an opportunity he embraced despite some initial backlash.
Charlie Puth performs the national anthem at the Super Bowl
Puth, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, faced some criticism on social media when it was announced he’d be performing the national anthem.
One critique in particular led Puth himself to respond.
“Man we’ve fallen from when Whitney Houston sang at the Super Bowl,” a user on X wrote, referencing the late singer’s standout rendition of the song in 1991. “Charlie Puth? He’s not gonna give us vocals I’m afraid.”
Puth was quick to respond: “I’ll never claim to be as good of a singer as Whitney Houston ever was. But I assure you we’re putting a really special arrangement together- in D major. It’ll be one of my best vocal performances.”
Puth’s arrangement, which featured him on an electric Rhodes piano, showcased his smooth, high-soaring vocals and falsetto. The soulful rendition — which also featured backup from a small orchestra and choir — picked up in intensity when Puth started to sing “And the rockets’ red glare.”
At the end of the performance, after holding out the word “brave” for several seconds, Puth seemed to be taking in the moment as he raised his hands in the air, put them on his head and looked around the stadium.
The Super Bowl performance marked a major moment for Puth, who rose to fame with his Wiz Khalifa collaboration on the 2015 monster hit “See You Again.” His vocals kick off the song, which has nearly 7 billion views on YouTube.
Other hits from Puth, who recently released his fourth album, “Whatever’s Clever!,” include “Attention‚” “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” featuring Selena Gomez, and “How Long.”
The singer-songwriter kicks off his world tour in late April, which will visit the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, on May 9.
What Charlie Puth said about singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl
Puth, who studied music production/engineering at Berklee, is very involved in the production of his own music — an approach he also took with his Super Bowl performance.
During an Apple Music press conference ahead of the game, Puth said he had been rehearsing the national anthem in his head for months.
In such a large venue where delays and other technical issues can abound, maintaining control over his sound was key, Puth told The Associated Press.
“You just make sure you don’t over sing,” said Puth. “The moment you start thinking about everybody else, you’re not locked into the music. And that’s when things don’t sound the way they should.”
Other pregame musical numbers included Grammy-winning R&B singer Coco Jones performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and 11-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile singing “America the Beautiful.”