The New England Patriots will play the Denver Broncos for a chance to play in Super Bowl LX on Sunday in the AFC Championship game. That's exciting enough, of course, but for our purposes here, we care more about the music that may be involved.
While rumors have circulated online that the halftime entertainment will be Cardi B, no official word has been announced that it will be the case. That seems unlikely for reasons we will get into in just a minute. What we do know is who will be singing the national anthem before the game.
That will be Denver-native Nathaniel Rateliff, and his involvement in the game should not be a surprise. The folk-Americana-blues singer performed the national anthem previously in 2015 when the Broncos took on the Cincinnati Bengals in 2015. Rateliff was also recently inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.
Nathaniel Rateliff set to perform the national anthem at the Patriots-Broncos AFC Championship game
He's also played a concert at Mile High Stadium, doing so in 2019 when he opened for the Rolling Stones. In other words, Denver residents will know who Rateliff is.
For the rest of us, we might know him from Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and their brilliant songs "S.O.B." and "I Need Never Get Old," among others. It's too bad he isn't the halftime performer instead of only doing the national anthem.
As for the halftime show, it is anyone's guess who that might be. Maybe no one. While some on social media have linked Cardi B to the game, what makes that unlikely is that she is in a serious relationship with Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs, and they have one child together.
Cardi B is an exciting performer, but since the Broncos are hosting the game, the organization doesn't seem likely to invite an unabashed fan of the Patriots, and connected to someone on the New England team, to sing at Mile High Stadium. Maybe that does happen, but it probably won't.
Another person who won't be involved directly in the game is Denver quarterback Bo Nix. He broke his ankle in the Divisional Round and will miss the rest of the season.
If you want to watch the New England Patriots play the Denver Broncos, you can tune in at 3 pm ET to see it. The game will be broadcast on CBS and can be streamed on Paramount+.