Carrie Underwood has been singing the theme song for Sunday Night Football since 2013, and the country star is bringing a dose of rock and roll to the NFL this year with the inclusion of Joan Jett.
From SNF‘s inception in 2006 until 2015, the show’s theme song was a reworked version of Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You” titled “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” though Underwood has been singing a different tune for the past three years. This season, she and Jett will return to the original song, with a sneak peek of the opening airing during Sunday night’s preseason game between the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The full opening will debut on Sept. 8 when the Steelers take on the New England Patriots.
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The short video features clips of Underwood and Jett performing interspersed with footage of the Steelers and the Patriots as Underwood is heard singing.
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The footage was shot in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, marking the first time in 14 years that the opening was filmed inside a stadium. As in past years, various NFL players will appear in the opening alongside Underwood and Jett.
Billboard reports that Underwood approached executives with the idea for Jett to join her on the track. The two stars had previously worked together when Jett joined Underwood on stage during CMA Fest in Nashville in June, with the duo performing several of Jett’s hits including “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and “I Love Rock ‘N Roll.”
From 2016-2017, the show’s theme song was a reworked version of Underwood and Miranda Lambert‘s duet “Somethin’ Bad” titled “Oh, Sunday Night,” while Underwood, Chris DeStefano, Brett James and Priscilla Renea wrote a new song for 2018 titled “Game On.” In June, Underwood and eight other defendants were sued by Nashville singer/songwriter Heidi Merrill for allegedly copying “Game On” from her.
Merrill claimed that she wrote and recorded a song titled “Game On” in 2016 and pitched it to Underwood’s producer, Mark Bright, as a potential SNF theme song. She says that Bright told her through an assistant that he would “have to pass,” only to have the next SNF theme song be titled “Game On.”
Billboard reports that Merrill claims Underwood’s song is “substantially — even strikingly — similar, if not identical,” to her song and that “the Defendants knowingly, willfully, and intentionally copied original, copyrightable elements of the Plaintiffs’ original Work.” The suit is still pending.
Prior to Underwood, the SNF theme song was performed by Pink and Faith Hill.
Photo Credit: Getty / Jason Kempin
