Singers Brandi Carlile and Charlie Puth both performed on what will likely be the biggest stage of their careers this past Sunday at the Super Bowl.
In the minutes leading up to the game — which drew an average of 124.9 million viewers, per Variety — Carlile, an 11-time Grammy winner, infused “America the Beautiful” with her raw vocals and grit. Puth, a 34-year-old singer-songwriter who graduated from the Berklee School of Music, then showcased his smooth, high-soaring vocals and falsetto with his rendition of the national anthem.
Now, after those once-in-a-lifetime performances, both artists are getting ready to come to Utah.
Brandi Carlile returns to Utah with ‘The Human’ tour
Carlile, a folk/country/rock singer who broke through in 2007 with her hit “The Story,” kicked off her latest tour on Feb. 10 — just a couple of days after her Super Bowl performance.
The singer’s “America the Beautiful” rendition featured accompaniment from SistaStrings, a violin and cello duo that is now traveling with Carlile on the “The Human” tour — which visits Salt Lake City’s Delta Center on Feb. 24.
The concert is in support of Carlile’s eighth solo album, “Returning to Myself,” and comes 3½ years after the singer last played the venue.
During that 2022 show, the singer-songwriter recalled how the Salt Lake venue The State Room — which seats roughly 300 — supported her from the early days of her career, as the Deseret News reported.
Carlile shared how she was on tour with Sheryl Crow in 2010 when some of her shows got canceled at the last minute due to illness. She and her band needed to get to the East Coast — and needed the gas money to get there. That trip ended up being largely funded by a spontaneous three-night gig at The State Room, where she performed an album each night in its entirety.
“It feels good to have found myself out here in Utah. There’s something special happening here in Salt Lake City, always has been,” Carlile told the packed arena, per Deseret News.
Carlile has eight solo albums under her belt and collaborated with Elton John last year on “Who Believes in Angels?” — which was nominated for best traditional pop vocal album at the Grammys earlier this month.
The musician is also a longtime friend of the legendary Joni Mitchell, and a few years ago facilitated the singer’s first public performance since suffering a brain aneurysm, as the Deseret News reported.
Carlile also played a part in the resurgence of country star Tanya Tucker, helping to produce the 2019 album “While I’m Livin’” that earned Tucker her first two Grammy Awards, per Deseret News.
Charlie Puth comes to Utah
At the end of performing the national anthem, after holding out the word “brave” for several seconds, Puth seemed to take in the moment as he raised his hands in the air, put them on his head and looked around the stadium in awe.
The Super Bowl performance kicks off a busy season for the artist.
In late April — two years after Taylor Swift “declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist” in her song “The Tortured Poets Department” — Puth embarks on his world tour, which visits the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, on May 9.
The artist last performed in Utah during the summer of 2023, bringing his tour to Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre in West Valley City.
Puth, who studied music production/engineering at Berklee, rose to fame with his Wiz Khalifa collaboration on the 2015 monster hit “See You Again.” The song has nearly 7 billion views on YouTube.
Other hits from Puth — who next month releases his fourth album, “Whatever’s Clever!” — include “Attention,” “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” featuring Selena Gomez, and “How Long.”
