Country star Chris Stapleton and rap legend Snoop Dogg have teamed up to cover rock icon Phil Collins‘ ‘In The Air Tonight’ as the NFL’s new Monday Night Football theme song – listen to it below.
Today (September 19), ESPN took to social media to share the new Monday Night Football anthem, which also features drummer Cindy Blackman Santana taking on the iconic drum fills of the original track.
Watch the three artists breathe new life into ‘In The Air Tonight’ below.
Can you feel it? 🔥
The new Monday Night Football Anthem is HERE!@ChrisStapleton x @SnoopDogg x @Drumstress pic.twitter.com/hbuTMMHIT9
— ESPN (@espn) September 19, 2023
Earlier this year, Chris Stapleton performed the National Anthem during the Super Bowl, ahead of Rihanna’s half-time performance. Snoop Dogg, on the other hand, most recently performed during Dr. Dre’s half-time performance last year.
The new cover comes two weeks after ESPN unveiled a partnership with Timberland and Justin Timberlake to curate music for select Monday Night Football games throughout the 2023-24 NFL season. The music selected will be played during promotional spots, live telecasts and pregame shows over a seven-week period.
In a statement, ESPN’s senior director of sports marketing Curtis Friends spoke about the importance of music curators for its programming. “Football and music go hand-in-hand, like the iconic Timbaland and Justin Timberlake duo, who collaborate on music to near perfection,” he said. “ESPN’s Monday Night Football music curatorship is popular with fans given the access this partnership provides to new and unexpected combinations of music with sport.
“We’ve had Diplo, DJ Khaled, Drake, and Marshmello and this fifth season, for the first time, we have two curators in Timbaland/JT [who] we know will energize all us fans for this NFL football season.”
