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\n\tJon Batiste<\/a> kickstarted Super Bowl LIX<\/a> between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, opening with the National Anthem at Caesars Super Dome in New Orleans. Batiste\u2019s performance<\/a> brought an innovative spin on the time-honored classic, incorporating a drum sample towards the song\u2019s close, a Super Bowl first. <\/p>\n \n\tBatiste, a five-time Grammy winner, was a particularly fitting choice to open this year\u2019s game having grown up in New Orleans and championing the city\u2019s storied musical history. Earlier this week, Batiste told Entertainment Tonight<\/em> <\/a>that his \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d performance would honor his late grandfather.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m thinking a lot about my personal story and the story of this country and the story of how we can honor the best of us,\u201d Batiste told the outlet. \u201cMy grandfather was one of my great mentors, he passed away, he was the best of this country. He served his country, he was the first wave of integrating the Navy, he was the first wave of many of our greatest achievements. Having that legacy in my family, the veterans in my family \u2014 people who understand what it means to have freedoms and to almost lose them \u2014 sing it for them.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe inaugural Musicians on Musicians Live<\/em> participant<\/a> discussed the responsibility he felt to giving a resonant national anthem performance during a press conference on Thursday<\/a>. \u201cMusic can communicate deep, profound truths,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe that our country, our songs, our iconography \u2014 the complexity of all of it \u2014 has a real important place as we negotiate and continue to redefine.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBatiste\u2019s \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d was one of several musical moments for this year\u2019s Super Bowl. Ledisi performed \u201cLift Every Voice and Sing,\u201d while Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle performed <\/strong>\u201cAmerica the Beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tKendrick Lamar will play the halftime show along with SZA. During a press conference earlier this week,<\/a> Lamar was scant on details but said to expect \u201cstorytelling\u201d for his performance.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music, and I\u2019ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I\u2019m on,\u201d Lamar said. \u201cI like to always carry on that sense of mak[ing] people listen, but also [to] see and think a little.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n