NBA All-Star Game 2021: Gladys Knight to sing US National Anthem at star-studded event

The NBA All-Star Game 2021 is less than a month away and the league has bee making a flurry of announcements in the build-up to the event. The game will be held at the State Farm Arena and will take place for one night for the first time. As a part of the festivities, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) announced that they will commit more than $2.5 million in funds and resources toward Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and support and awareness around equity and access to COVID-19 care, relief and vaccines. 

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NBA All-Star Game date: Gladys Knight, Alessia Cara set to perform at NBA All-Star Game

The NBA announced that seven-time GRAMMY Award winner Gladys Knight will sing the United States National Anthem for the NBA All-Star game. Knight, who will perform live from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, graduated from Shaw University, one of the oldest HBCUs in the country. The 76-year-old, who recently received the coronavirus vaccine, has enjoyed #1 hits in Pop, Gospel, R&B and Adult Contemporary, and has triumphed in film, television and live performance. Knight has recorded more than 38 albums over the years, including four solo albums during the past decade: “Good Woman” (1991); “Just for You” (1994); the inspirational “Many Different Roads” (1999); and “At Last” (2001).

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Followed by Gladys Knight's performance, GRAMMY Award winner and singer-songwriter Alessia Cara will sing the Canadian national anthem from Toronto. Cara became the first Canadian ever to win a Grammy for "best new artist," earning the award in 2018, a year in which she received three other nominations. The NBA will pay tribute to the vital role of HBCUs through music, content and storytelling, including an authentic rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by the Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society Choir, which will sing from an iconic location on its campus. 

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The rendition will honour NAACP leader and Black national anthem songwriter James Weldon Johnson, who is also a Clark Atlanta alumnus. Additionally, Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band and Florida A&M University Marching 100 will play during the NBA All-Star player introductions from their respective historical campuses. The event will also see members of the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities, a prestigious group of nine historically Black Greek letter organisations, introduce Atlanta’s most reputable step teams from Spelman College and Morehouse College. 

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(Image Courtesy: Gladys Knight Instagram)