Who Are the Deaf Performers at Super Bowl 2024?
This year's performances highlighted the ASL performers more than ever before.
The 2024 Super Bowl is very accessible to people who are hard of hearing, with four performances in American sign language (ASL). First, the National Anthem will feature Daniel Durant performing the song in ASL, while Anjel Piñero will perform "America the Beautiful" in ASL. Shaheem Sanchez will interpret the halftime show in ASL and will perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing" separately in ASL as well. Here's what you need to know about these performances for the deaf people in the audience.
As usual, Super Bowl LVIII will kick off with the national anthem. (This year's Super Bowl airs on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Click here for a Paramount + free trial. ) Singer Reba McEntire will sing the song while Durant performs it in ASL.
Durant is an actor best known for CODA, which earned him three Oscar nominations in 2022. The 34-year-old has done most of his acting on stage, including the 2015 Broadway production of Spring Awakening, though fans may also recognize him from his four-year stint as a recurring character on the ABC series Switched at Birth. Durant was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2022, and a few months later, he confirmed that he was in a relationship with his dance partner, Britt Stewart. They became engaged in December.
The pre-game festivities will continue with "America the Beautiful," which will be sung by rapper Post Malone. Piñero will join Malone to perform the song in ASL. Piñero is a multi-disciplinary performer with a lot of experience on the pageant circuit – she was a finalist for the 2023 Miss New York USA pageant, among other competitions. For most fans, she will be more recognizable for her TV debut last year. She appeared on Law & Order: SVU Season 24, Episode 10 as Logan Camacho.
Next up, Shaheem Sanchez will join Day for a rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Sanchez is an actor and choreographer best known for his role in the 2019 film Sound of Metal. Sanchez will also perform alongside Usher during the halftime show. Notably, Sanchez has worked with Usher before – in a 2018 video, Sanchez and Usher can be seen together in a dance studio as Sanchez teaches Usher to finger-spell his own name in ASL.
Super Bowl LVIII will kick off on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. ET, but the pre-game coverage will begin as early as 11:30 a.m. ET. It will broadcast on CBS and will stream simultaneously here on Paramount+.
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