Joan Jett to Join Carrie Underwood on ‘Sunday Night Football’ Theme
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Jett will join country star Carrie Underwood to open this season's NBC Sunday Night Football with a new song segment set to debut Sunday, Sept. 8, before the Super Bowl champ New England Patriots take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the teams' first regular season game. A sneak preview of the new theme song and video will air this Sunday (Aug. 25) during a Sunday Night Football pre-season contest.
The tune to be performed in a pre-recorded clip, "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night," has been is use by SNF since 2006, when it was first performed by singer Pink. It's a reworking of Jett's 1988 track "I Hate Myself for Loving You," first recorded with the Blackhearts, who will back Jett during the SNF performance. (In 2007, country's Faith Hill replaced Pink as its vocalist before Underwood took over in 2013.)
Jett and Underwood recently paired up onstage as part of June's 2019 CMA Music Festival on ABC, as reported by Taste of Country and Ultimate Classic Rock. View a video report on the duo's past live collab down toward the bottom of this post.
"I have always been a huge fan of Joan's, and I'm thrilled that she's joining us for the Sunday Night Football open," Underwood shared in a statement. "What better way to pay homage to the original SNF opening song than by getting to play with her on primetime's biggest stage?"
The show's executive producer Fred Gaudelli commented, "When Carrie brought us this idea, we immediately embraced it as a terrific way to evolve the performance, while also celebrating the song we used in our first 10 seasons of Sunday Night Football. We were excited when Joan agreed to join us, and we can't wait to debut the finished product."
The new opening was filmed inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the NFL Falcons. It's the first time in the series' 14 seasons that an SNF show open was shot inside an NFL stadium.
Jett recently performed her 1980 debut solo single "Bad Reputation" with the Blackhearts at WrestleMania 35 as Ronda Rousey entered the ring to defend the WWE Raw Women's Championship title. Rousey had previously used a version of the song as her UFC entrance music.
Watch: Carrie Underwood + Joan Jett Share the Stage at CMA Fest
See Joan Jett in the Top 50 Hard Rock + Metal Frontwomen of All Time