Brandy, 42, performed the national anthem at the NFC Championship game on Sunday, Jan. 30, and brought back memories of the late great Whitney Houston. The Queens star channeled Whitney while singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” by dressing in a similar stylish white tracksuit that Whitney wore for her iconic 1991 Super Bowl performance. And like Whitney, Brandy’s vocals were absolutely impeccable. Her performance at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Sunday kicked off the Los Angeles Rams’ ultimate victory against the San Francisco 49ers.
Brandy DELIVERED as ALWAYS👏🏾🙌🏾 @4everBrandy pic.twitter.com/YID6JNo8Mc
— Reality Speedd (@realityspeedd) January 30, 2022
Brandy’s performance was shared all over social media and received praise from fellow celebs and fans. “AMEN BRANDY,” Kelly Rowland wrote on Twitter, alongside a video of the performance. One fan shared side-by-side photos of Brandy and Whitney from their respective national anthem performances and wrote, “One thing about Brandy, she’s gonna always find a way to pay homage to her idol. Whitney Houston.” A different fan said that Brandy “looks and sounds as great as she ever has.” It’s safe to say that Brandy crushed her national anthem performance!
Fans of Brandy surely know how much she’s idolized Whitney, who died in 2012. In fact, the powerhouse singers previously worked together in Disney’s Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, where Brandy played the titular character, and Whitney co-produced and starred as the Fairy Godmother. While looking back on the 1997 film in an interview with HollywoodLife in Dec. 2021, Brandy gushed over the “I Will Always Love You” icon.
“My whole thing was that I wanted to work with Whitney Houston. Like, it was cool being ‘the first Black Cinderella,’ but I didn’t really understand the importance of that until later in my life,” Brandy explained. “Hindsight is always 20/20, so looking back at being ale to do something like that, that’s special. Something that’s so diverse, a project that is so diverse, that welcomes all different cultures and one story, it changed my life and it changed so many other people’s lives, as well.”