ESPN’s Monday Night Football franchise teamed up Snoop Dogg, Chris Stapleton, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana to re-record Phil Collins’ 1981 classic “In the Air Tonight” as their brand-new opening theme.
A just-released video teaser of the clip shows Stapleton, in an upturned collar and cowboy hat, walking down a hallway toward the stadium parking lot, where Snoop, clad in a tracksuit, waits with his open arms as Blackman Santana hits the dramatic drum fill.
Recorded in part by Stapleton’s longtime producer, Dave Cobb, the full version of ‘In the Air …’ premieres tonight when New Orleans takes on Carolina at 7:15 p.m./ET on ESPN, and later when Cleveland faces Pittsburgh at 8:15 p.m./ET on ABC.
Proof positive that country stars and football fit like hand in glove, on Monday (9.11,) Stapleton’s new song “White Horse” played before Monday Night Football, and two Sundays prior, Carrie Underwood returned for her 11th consecutive season of opening NBC’s Sunday Night Football with her “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” remake of Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”
In February, Stapleton performed the national anthem ahead of Super Bowl LVII and subsequently released his version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to streaming services in June. His new full length, Higher, drops on November 10.
Currently, Snoop Dogg, has been an outspoken supporter of striking Hollywood writers and actors, and the rapper canceled a pair of planned concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in October in a show of solidarity with the WGA and SAG/AFTRA.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Library of Congress Life – public domain