Christian singer says Super Bowl performance is ‘vindication’ after being canceled by New Orleans mayor

Christian music star Lauren Daigle is celebrating a full-circle moment after being tapped to perform at this year’s Super Bowl.

On Sunday, the 33-year-old singer will join jazz musician Trombone Shorty for a rendition of “America the Beautiful” during the Super Bowl pregame show at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. 

Daigle’s performance in NOLA during one of the most-watched TV events in the world comes years after New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called for her to be removed as a performer when the city hosted “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Celebration.”

Ahead of the Super Bowl, Daigle joined contributor Raymond Arroyo for an appearance on the “Arroyo Grande” podcast during which she explained feeling vindicated as she prepares to perform on one of the biggest stages in the world.

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“To get this moment years later, I would say for anybody watching that has had their reputations smeared in any sort of way and they are just waiting for the moment of vindication, sometimes it only takes five years,” Daigle told the “Arroyo Grande” podcast. 

In 2020, Cantrell publicly lambasted Daigle after the two-time Grammy Award winner gave an impromptu performance at an outdoor prayer service, concert and rally hosted by Christian singer and worship leader Sean Feucht.

The event, near New Orleans’ famed Jackson Square in November 2020, was part of Feucht’s “Let Us Worship” tour, which also served as a protest against COVID-19 restrictions on churches. 

According to The Times-Picayune, the event drew several hundred attendees, many of whom went mask-less in defiance of local public health orders.

On Sunday, the 33-year-old singer will join jazz musician Trombone Shorty for a rendition of “America the Beautiful” during the Super Bowl pregame at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.  (Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images)

Afterward, Cantrell blasted Daigle for participating in the event and later sent a harsh letter to the producers of “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve” to demand that the Lafayette, Louisiana, native be banned from performing.

At the time, Daigle issued a statement explaining she was riding her bike when she spontaneously decided to stop by Feucht’s event since he was a longtime friend. She told Arroyo her performance was not planned in advance, and Feucht asked her to sing. 

In her statement, Daigle wrote that she was “disappointed that my spontaneous participation has become part of the political discourse, and I’m saddened by the divisive agendas of these times.”

Daigle also confirmed that though she had been involved in talks with the producers of “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve,” she was never a confirmed performer for the TV special.

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“I would have been, and still would be, honored to represent our city on New Year’s Eve, and although I was aware of discussions regarding my involvement, an offer was never made,” she said.

While speaking with Arroyo, Daigle noted she was “definitely not invited” to the telecast and shared her reaction to Cantrell’s letter.

“I think from that letter, too, she quoted, ‘She’s a weapon to society,'” Daigle recalled. “And I went home to Lafayette, and I got in my parents’ bed and I pulled the covers over my head as an adult. I was like, ‘Gosh, here we are again.’ Because now there’s no amount of public ridicule that is fun.”

Ahead of the Super Bowl, Daigle joined contributor Raymond Arroyo for an appearance on the “Arroyo Grande Podcast” during which she explained that she felt vindicated as she prepares to perform on one of the biggest stages in the world. (Eric McCandless via Getty Images)

Looking back, Daigle said she had a different perspective about the controversy.

“What I learned is that when people need an element of hope, coming together is one of the most beautiful things,” she said. “It is one of the most incredible rights that we have in this country. It is. And I think to take that away from people is so disheartening, especially in a time like that.”

Now Daigle will take the stage in New Orleans as the city hosts the Super Bowl for the first time since 2013.

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The singer told Arroyo she was in disbelief when Trombone Shorty called her to ask if she would perform “America the Beautiful” with him at Sunday’s game.

“I picked up the phone, and there was a little bit of, ‘Is this real? Is this actually going to happen? Is it real?’ I want to know that it’s real,” she recalled. “And then it became a ‘Yeah, it was real.’ It was a real call. And I was tickled.”

Daigle also shared some details about what fans can expect from her performance with fellow Louisiana native Shorty. She told Arroyo Shorty’s arrangement of the classic patriotic song will pay tribute to both New Orleans and her hometown.

“He said, ‘You know, I wanted to give a hat tip to New Orleans because we’re here. But I also know you’re from Lafayette. So, I wanted to give a hat tip to Lafayette.’ So, he came up with this arrangement that rhythmically suits both places,'” Daigle said.

Daigle also shared that her rendition will be influenced by her Christian roots. The musician said she began to practice the song after receiving Shorty’s call.

“I immediately tried to think … how does it feel the most human in my voice?” Daigle said. “How will it cut through to this generation, the age that we are living in right now, the political climate that we’re living in right now? How can I use this song to cut through to people who might be jaded toward our country or might not love what we have in this country or what we’ve built in this country?

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“How can I use this song? And the line, and I’m not trying to sound cliché at all because I know, ‘Hello, Christian,’ whatever. But when it says, ’God shed His grace on me,’ that line, it just really gripped me to the core in a way,” she added. 

“I’ve sang songs over talking about God, right? But when you see a song that is meant for something else, and it still includes the power of God in it … it’s meant to honor our nation and show the beauty of our nation. Right? But they also know God has done something for this nation. There’s something unique about this. To be able to sing that song with a true conviction versus just, ‘Yeah, I’m just going to jump up on stage and have this opportunity.'”