Charlie Puth Responds to 2026 Super Bowl National Anthem Backlash: ‘It’ll Be One of My Best Vocal Performances’
Charlie Puth is standing strong in the face of online backlash to the announcement of his upcoming national anthem performance at next year’s Super Bowl LX (Feb. 8, 2026).
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“I’ll never claim to be as good of a singer as Whitney Houston ever was,” the four-time Grammy nominee wrote on X on Monday (Dec. 1), responding directly to a user. “But I assure you we’re putting a really special arrangement together- in D major. It’ll be one of my best vocal performances.”
Over the holiday weekend (Nov. 30), the NFL unveiled the official lineup for the Super Bowl LX pregame. With Puth handling the national anthem, Brandi Carlile will sing “America the Beautiful,” and Coco Jones will deliver a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
All three Billboard-charting vocalists will take the stage ahead of Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated 2026 Apple Music halftime show. Seven-time Grammy winner Jon Batiste performed the national anthem at Super Bowl LIX (Feb. 9), following recent renditions from Reba McEntire (2024), Chris Stapleton (2023) and Mickey Guyton (2022).
Puth, who topped the Billboard Hot 100 alongside Wiz Khalifa with the Furious 7 soundtrack single and Paul Walker tribute “See You Again,” boasts three consecutive Billboard 200 top 10 albums. His most recent release, 2022’s eponymous LP, reached No. 10 and spawned the Hot 100 hits “Light Switch” (No. 27) and “Left and Right” (No. 22, with Jung Kook of BTS). Known for his meticulous arrangements and vast musical knowledge, which he frequently shares through glimpses into his writing and production process on his official TikTok page, Puth also reached the Hot 100’s top 10 with his remix of country star Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope” (No. 3).
With two months to spare, Puth certainly has time to perfect his arrangement before the big game. Just one month later (March 6), he’ll share his fourth studio album, Whatever’s Clever!
Read Puth’s full response to the backlash below.
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