Waterbury’s Ralph to sing ‘Black National Anthem’ at Super Bowl
Sheryl Lee Ralph — the star of stage and screen who happens to be a native of Waterbury — will perform the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referred to as “The Black National Anthem,” before the kickoff of Super Bowl LVII on Sunday.
Ralph won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress earlier this year for playing the no-nonsense old-school educator Barbara Howard on the series “Abbott Elementary.”
The Super Bowl is being played at State Farm Stadium in Arizona. Sunday’s game begins at 6:30 p.m., but there will be hours of live coverage leading up to the game on the Fox network. Other singers performing before the game include Chris Stapleton singing the national anthem and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds singing “America the Beautiful.” Each of the pregame songs will be simultaneously translated into American Sign Language. The halftime show this year features Rihanna.
Ralph was born in Waterbury in 1956. She later lived in Kingston, Jamaica, and Long Island. Her father was the music teacher Stanley Ralph, whose composition “The Nutmeg, Homeland of Liberty” was named the official Connecticut state cantata in 2003. Her mother was the Jamaican fashion designer Ivy Ralph.
“Abbott Elementary” is far from Ralph’s first sitcom. She won numerous awards for playing Dee for six seasons of “Moesha” from 1996 to 2001. Ralph was also in the original Broadway casts of the musicals “Dreamgirls” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” She had a hit dance record, “In the Evening,” in the mid-1980s. She’s provided voices for animated DC superhero series, such as Cheetah in “Justice League’ and “Justice League Unlimited” and Amanda Waller in “Young Justice.” Her movie credits include “The Mighty Quinn,” “To Sleep With Anger,” “Just Getting Started” and “The Comeback Trail.”