Carrie Underwood’s brand-new song, “The Champion,” has arrived. After teasing the tune on Saturday (Jan. 7), Underwood officially unveiled the track — which, surprisingly, features rapper Ludacris — on Friday morning (Jan. 12).
Readers can press play above to hear “The Champion,” which she co-wrote in 2017 with Brett James, Chris DeStefano and Ludacris, whom Underwood sought out for the collaboration. The anthemic song was produced by Jim Jonsin.
“When we were writing “The Champion,” our main focus was to celebrate athletes at the top of their game, but we also wanted the song to resonate with people in their everyday lives,” Underwood says in a press release. “We hope the lyrics will inspire people to push themselves beyond their limits to conquer anything they are trying to accomplish or overcome. There’s a champion in every single one of us!”
NBC will use “The Champion” to open its coverage of Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4; that coverage will feature a special video, also filmed in 2017. Additionally, NBC will be using “The Champion” during its coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
“When we met with Carrie last year to discuss the Super Bowl open, we each brought ideas. Carrie presented first. After she spoke, we looked at each other and said, ‘That’s the one,’” recalls Fred Gaudelli, executive producer of Sunday Night Football and NBC’s Super Bowl LII coverage. “Later on, our Olympics producers listened to “The Champion” and decided that it would be a perfect complement for our Winter Games coverage. We are excited to highlight “The Champion” in two events on the global stage in February.”
During the 2017-2018 NFL season, for the fifth year in a row, Underwood sang the Sunday Night Football opening theme. She took over the job from Faith Hill in 2013, and for the 2016-2017 NFL season, Underwood replaced the old SNF theme, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” with “Oh, Sunday Night,” a remake of “Somethin’ Bad,” originally a collaboration between Miranda Lambert and Underwood.
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This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TheBoot.com
