Carrie Underwood has performed the NBC Sunday Night Football theme song for over a decade now — recording a new version and filming an accompanying video each year — but she initially turned down the gig.
When SNF debuted in 2006, Underwood, now 41, was in the early stages of her music career, having won season 4 of American Idol the previous year. Fred Gaudelli, executive producer of NBC’s NFL coverage, told Yahoo Entertainment on Thursday, September 5, that SNF “reached out to Carrie” about performing the theme at the time, but she “wasn’t really interested.”
Underwood told the outlet that it “wasn’t the right time” for her to accept the opportunity. “At that time in my life, there was so much going on,” she explained.
NBC then offered the gig to Pink, who sang the adaptation of Joan Jett’s song “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” titled “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” for one football season. Faith Hill then took over for six years before deciding to move on. Once NBC had an opening, they decided to ask Underwood for the second time.
“I said, ‘Look, we’re the No. 1 show in primetime television. This is going to air in front of 20 million people plus every single week,’” Gaudelli said, recalling his argument to the country singer. “I showed her the demographic breakdown, and once that was done, she’s like, ‘You know what? You’re right. We should do this.’ And that began a now 12-year run.”
During Underwood’s tenure, which began in 2013, the opening theme has gone through some changes. She sang “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” through 2015 before trying out variations titled “Oh, Sunday Night” and “Game On.” Underwood returned to the Jett adaptation in 2019.
This year’s version of “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” which viewers will hear for the first time when SNF kicks off on Sunday, September 8, is a bit different.
“We essentially flipped the song upside down,” SNF’s coordinating producer Rob Hyland told Yahoo, noting that the 2024 theme is “by far” his favorite. “The song now starts with the chorus, which is something we used to always build toward.”
Underwood added that this year’s opening has “a lot of movement and kind of switching from environment to environment” which makes for an “exciting” viewing experience.
The Grammy winner and Oklahoma native, who grew up watching “a lot of football on Sundays,” always looks forward to her sons’ reaction to the theme. (Underwood shares Isaiah, 9, and Jacob, 5, with her husband, NHL alum Mike Fisher.)
“They love seeing me on TV. But even with younger kids who obviously did not see me on American Idol or early in my career, to some kiddos, [SNF] is what they know me from,” she said. “So, I’ll take it. That’s really amazing.”
The 2024 Sunday Night Football season begins on Sunday, September 8, with the Los Angeles Rams playing the Detroit Lions. The game will air on NBC at 8:20 pm ET.
