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To Kneel or Not to Kneel: NFL's Anthem Singers Debate
Rayvon Owen performs on Aug. 13, 2016 in Los Angeles
NFL players have been taking a knee during the national anthem ever
since Colin Kaepernick remained on the bench for the performance of the
song in a preseason game, 13 months ago. Now as the movement has spread
to include coaches and NFL staff, the performers charged with belting
out the patriotic song themselves are split over whether to kneel along
with them.
“It’s definitely a heavy decision,” Rayvon Owen, a Los
Angeles R&B artist who performed at the San Francisco Rams game last
Thursday, tells Billboard.
Owen chose not to kneel
during his most recent performance, but he is in talks to sing at an
upcoming game and says that given the recent events, he is now feeling
the pressure to join in on the protest, especially as a gay,
African-American male who’s witnessed his share of social injustice
first-hand.
“There are a million other singers who would kill for that
opportunity so I’m very grateful,” he says, “yet I realize that that
opportunity also comes with the chance to express myself.” (He’s
considering standing for the song but doing something like wearing a
T-shirt that delivers a message of unity.)
Singer-songwriter Moi
Navarro, another upcoming NFL anthem candidate who sang at last month’s
Chargers vs. Saints preseason game, says he's also torn as a
second-generation Mexican-American performer. He will likely stand
through the song: “I couldn’t imagine kneeling just because of my
heritage and what I know that this country means to my parents and what
the national anthem means,” he says. “But also there is a part of me
that is trying to figure out what the bending of the knee means right
now. I’m still trying to sort out my feelings. So I would at least
consider it,” he says, of potentially kneeling.
The artists’
dilemma intensified last Sunday (Sept. 24) when two anthem singers knelt
down after crooning the final lines of "The Star Spangled Banner" in
two football stadiums: Rico LaVelle, a local Detroit artist, plopped to
the ground at Ford Field, raising his fist while delivering the
concluding notes of the game’s opening number. A few states over in
Nashville, Meghan Linsey, runner up on season 8 of The Voice, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner”
alongside her guitarist while the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks
remained huddled in their locker rooms. Jordin Sparks, meanwhile, stood
throughout her performance at Monday Night Football’s Cowboys/Cardinals
game, but made a bold statement with Proverbs 31:8-9 written on her
left hand, which reads "Speak up for those who cannot speak for
themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”
NFL followers predict the peaceful demonstrations will expand through the rest of the season.
“I
think with anthem singers you probably will see more of it,” says NFL
Network’s National Insider, Ian Rapoport, who notes the role that music
has played in social change throughout U.S. history. “Music has led so
many of the movements. Music is not leading here, but it doesn’t mean
that musicians can’t have a huge part of it,” he says. “Musicians as a
whole are not shy people. And I don’t expect them to be shy going
forward.”
Christopher Eric, executive VP of Koffeehouse Music, the
L.A.-based company that booked Sparks’ anthem performance, says that
many of the upcoming singers are finding themselves in a tricky spot.
“I
can already tell from my conversations with various artists that they
are conflicted and concerned about performing the anthem when players
are protesting and fans are booing,” Eric says, adding that “this is
uncharted waters for the artists that proudly sing our national anthem.”
Some
musicians are worried about not being asked back to perform at NFL
games, while others are terrified of the potential aftermath of
expressing themselves on the field. Those who have been bold enough to
partake say taking a stand has consequences.
Linsey, who has sang at several NFL events in the past, tells Billboard
that minutes before taking the field, she was informed that this would
be unlike the previous games she had performed at. “An NFL rep told me,
‘This is confidential and this is going to be weird but the players
decided to all stay in their locker rooms.’ At that point I knew I was
taking a knee,” recalls the singer, who expresses that she knelt in
solidarity to stand against social injustices and recent comments made
by President Trump.
The country artist confirms that she has
absolutely no regrets about her nationally televised statement, but
confesses that since the performance, she’s been haunted by brutal
social media comments, including death threats and cancer wishes.
“Coming
from the country music background and being a white privileged female,
to make a stance like that is a big deal,” she says. But to offset the
haters, there has also been an outpouring of support for the star, from
the likes of tweets by fellow musician Aloe Blacc and country radio
mogul Bobby Bones. Linsey has also had a few big names in music
privately inbox her on Twitter to giver her a virtual high-five,
including “one very southern country superstar with an
ultra-conservative fan base,” who she was shocked to hear from.
The
aftermath of taking a stand may have gotten too strong for LaVelle,
whose Twitter account appears to have been deactivated a few days after
Sunday’s game.
But Chelsea Fields, who has performed at more than
50 major league sporting events, is adamant about standing proud
throughout the deliverance of the song. The country-pop performer, who
sang the anthem at the September 26th Steelers/Colts game, says kneeling
has never crossed her mind.
“I fully believe in the first amendment and people are allowed to do
what they feel is right. But I also feel like it’s disrespectful to the
men and women who serve our country,” she notes. “I don’t judge any
singers that feel that that’s what they need to do. But I do feel that
if somebody feels so strongly to take a knee, then I don’t know why they
got up there to do it in the first place.”
Katie Ohh, who will
sing the anthem for the New Year’s Eve Chargers vs. Raiders game, has
also made up her mind to stand. She tells Billboard that her
plan won’t change, regardless of how heated things become in the coming
months. “It’s a tumultuous time our country for a lot of various
political reasons but I feel like standing for the national anthem is
what I myself would need to do,” she says.
NFL Network’s Rapoport
notes that based on his communications within the organization, the
protests have been generally well received. “I’ve been surprised at how
few teams, if any, have been looking to silence these voices,” he says.
“The open mindedness of some of these teams has been really awesome and
refreshing. So hopefully that continues. It makes me happy to see a lot
of these people making their viewpoints known, whether it’s athletes or
anthem singers or anybody else.”
Recording artist Haley Reinhart
agrees. "I have the utmost respect for the national anthem and all that
it represents. I've had the honor of performing it over a dozen times
now at different sports and musical events. With everything going on in
the world, it takes a courageous individual to create change. The fact
that people are uniting together in this moment to make a point,
peacefully, is a positive,” she says.
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