Music legend Gladys Knight will be singing the National Anthem at next month’s 2021 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta.
The festivities will pay tribute to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and feature some of the best HBCU “marching bands, step teams, glee clubs and choirs,” says Variety.
The HBCU choirs and bands expected to make appearance include some from Atlanta, Louisiana and Florida.
The Grio reports that, “The Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society Choir will serve up a virtual performance of Lift Every Voice and Sing,” honoring the song’s writer, James Weldon Johnson – a Clark Atlanta alumnus.
Grambling State University (Louisiana) Tiger Marching Band and Florida A&M University Marching 100 will perform at remote locations during player introductions.
In a statement, the NBA added, “Throughout the game, members of the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities, a prestigious group of nine historically Black Greek letter organizations, will introduce Atlanta’s most reputable step teams from Spelman College and Morehouse College.”
Seven-time Grammy winner and Atlanta native, Knight is also an HBCU graduate. An alumnus of one of the nation’s oldest HBCUs, Shaw University, Knight will sing live from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Performances will begin airing at 8 p.m. on March 7 on TNT.
