performing on the
National Mall in Washington, D.C., 2003 •
2002: "NFL Kickoff Live from
Times Square" started at 4:30 p.m. and led up to kickoff of the game at the Meadowlands. The concert was headlined by
Bon Jovi (who also performed at halftime), and also featured
Enrique Iglesias,
Eve and
Alicia Keys. The event included recognition and support of New York City's
9/11 memorial events. •
2003: The event moved to the
National Mall in
Washington, D.C., and was billed as "NFL Kickoff Live From The National Mall Presented By
Pepsi Vanilla."
Britney Spears, who was introduced by Air Force Staff Sergeant Richard W. Duken II from Leesville LA, stationed at Tinker AFB,
Aerosmith and
Mary J. Blige headlined the concert. The activities started at 6 p.m. and featured a tribute to troops active in
Iraq and
Afghanistan, and was attended by thousands of American military personnel. ABC televised the concert live from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. eastern.
Aretha Franklin concluded the concert by singing the
national anthem from the National Mall leading up to kickoff. Three weeks later, the
United States Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation that, when enacted into law, limited displays of commercial sponsorship on the Mall. •
2004: After initially being cancelled, the event was reinstated, and the 2004 "NFL Opening Kickoff" took place in two locations. At
Gillette Stadium in
Foxborough, Massachusetts, the
New England Patriots were honored as
Super Bowl XXXVIII champions. Performers at the stadium included
Mary J. Blige,
Destiny's Child,
Elton John,
Toby Keith,
Lenny Kravitz, and the
Boston Pops Orchestra, performing
Heavy Action, the Monday Night Football theme song.
Jessica Simpson performed from Metropolitan Park in
Jacksonville, Florida, site of the upcoming
Super Bowl. The concert aired live on ABC from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., just prior to gametime. The 2004 festivities firmly established the tradition of holding the game and concert at the home of the defending
Super Bowl champion, and also linking the event to the location of the upcoming Super Bowl. •
2005: The fourth annual "NFL Opening Kickoff" featured concert activities from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough,
Detroit (host of the upcoming
Super Bowl XL), and
Los Angeles. The Super Bowl XXXIX champion New England Patriots again were honored at the event, hosted by
Freddie Prinze, Jr., and broadcast live on ABC. Performers at the stadium included
Green Day,
Carlos Santana,
Michelle Branch, and a surprise appearance by
Ozzy Osbourne, who emerged from a giant-sized helmet.
The Rolling Stones were shown on video from a taped broadcast in Detroit.
Kanye West,
Maroon 5,
Good Charlotte and
Rihanna performed from a red-white-and-blue stage in Los Angeles.
Trisha Yearwood concluded the hour-long concert by singing the national anthem back at Gillette Stadium. •
2006: The Thursday night concert and game switched to NBC for 2006, and was billed as "NFL Opening Kickoff 2006 Presented by
Sprint." The 30-minute concert broadcast live from
Heinz Field in
Pittsburgh, and from a special stage in
South Beach in
Miami Beach, near the home of the upcoming
Super Bowl XLI.
Diddy and
Cassie entertained from Miami Beach, while
Rascal Flatts were in Pittsburgh, along with
Martina McBride, who sang the national anthem. •
2007: "NFL Opening Kickoff 2007 Presented by Sprint" was aired on NBC as a thirty-minute special hosted by
NFL Network anchor
Rich Eisen.
Kelly Clarkson was the first performer, singing on a sloped, outdoor stage at
Monument Circle in downtown
Indianapolis. The concert moved indoors to the
RCA Dome with Indiana native
John Mellencamp singing his classic hit "
Small Town".
Billy Joel followed, back outside at Monument Circle.
Hinder also performed. Back inside the RCA Dome,
Colts owner
Jim Irsay unveiled the
Super Bowl XLI championship banner. The event was marred by the death of a man who fell or jumped off the ninth-floor pool deck of the Sheraton City Center overlooking Monument Circle.
Keyshia Cole wrapped up the show singing the
national anthem with the Voices of Unity Youth Choir of
Fort Wayne. Unlike in past years, there were no performances in the host area of the Super Bowl, in this case the
Phoenix, Arizona area (
Super Bowl XLII was held at
University of Phoenix Stadium in suburban
Glendale). •
2008:
Keith Urban and
Usher were the featured performers at an afternoon concert at
Columbus Circle in
Midtown Manhattan in
New York City on September 4. The concert was officially called "NFL Opening Kickoff 2008 Presented by
EA Sports." Media coverage included
NFL Network, NFL.com, and streaming on Sprint-branded mobile phones. NBC intercut portions of the concert into a broadcast of their
2008–09 season fall preview show the next night, September 5 at 9 pm
ET/
PT, 8 pm
CT. (Unlike in past years, there was no live broadcast on NBC because of the early kickoff and later coverage of the
2008 Republican National Convention.) •
2009: "NFL Opening Kickoff 2009 Presented by
EA Sports" featured
Tim McGraw and
The Black Eyed Peas performing at
Point State Park in
Pittsburgh.
Nancy O'Dell hosted the 30-minute concert on
NBC. The Tim McGraw part of the concert was a part of the Music Video for song
Southern Voice.
Harry Connick Jr. sang the national anthem. •
2010: "NFL Opening Kickoff 2010 Presented by EA Sports
Madden NFL 11" featured
Dave Matthews Band and
Taylor Swift performing at
Jackson Square in
New Orleans. The network telecast – which for the second straight year was simulcast by NBC and
NFL Network – was expanded to one hour. Pregame events ended inside the Superdome, where
Harry Connick, Jr. rode in a
Mardi Gras-style parade float into the stadium with team owner
Tom Benson and introduced the unveiling of the Saints' championship banner from
Super Bowl XLIV while
Colbie Caillat sang the national anthem. •
2011: "NFL Kickoff 2011 presented by
EA Sports" was held at the parking lot of
Lambeau Field near the
Veterans Memorial.
Kid Rock,
Lady Antebellum, and
Maroon 5 performed.
Jordin Sparks sang the national anthem. The hour-long concert was to begin at 7:30 p.m., and was to be simulcast by
NBC and
NFL Network. However, for most of the nation, the pre-game coverage was switched to a simulcast at 7:00 p.m. on NFL Network,
Syfy,
Versus,
USA, and
G4 due to
President Obama's primetime address to
Congress. In contrast, the pregame coverage aired live as scheduled in New Orleans and most television markets in Wisconsin. • During the pregame, 32 legendary NFL players held team flags representing each of the 32 franchises.
Bart Starr entered the stadium to represent the
Packers. The other participants included:
Ron Wolfley,
Steve Bartkowski,
Matt Stover,
Andre Reed,
Muhsin Muhammad,
Richard Dent,
Ken Anderson,
Kevin Mack,
Jay Novacek,
Randy Gradishar,
Charlie Sanders,
N. D. Kalu,
Bill Brooks,
Don Davey,
Willie Lanier,
Dwight Stephenson,
John Randle,
John Hannah,
Deuce McAllister,
Harry Carson,
Al Toon,
Ted Hendricks,
Eric Allen,
Dermontti Dawson,
Aeneas Williams,
Junior Seau,
Dwight Clark,
Cortez Kennedy,
Mike Alstott,
Eddie George,
Larry Brown. •
2012: "NFL Kickoff 2012 presented by
EA Sports" was held in New York City with a concert held by
Mariah Carey,
No Doubt and
Cee Lo Green. The national anthem was sung by
Queen Latifah accompanied by the Jubilation Choir. •
2013: "NFL Kickoff 2013 presented by
Pepsi" featured a concert at
Baltimore's
Inner Harbor, with performances by
Danielle Bradbery who performed the national anthem and
Keith Urban. The introduction to the game was done on the field by
Ryan Seacrest, and culminated with a "countdown" to the start of the season starring 32 legendary NFL players (one from each franchise). A 34-minute weather delay due to lightning occurred immediately after the concert and delayed the kickoff of the game, pushing the kickoff to 9:10 ET, 7:10 local time in Denver. •
2014: "NFL Kickoff 2014 presented by
Xbox" was held outside
Seattle's
CenturyLink Field, with
Pharrell Williams and
Soundgarden performing.
Ariana Grande performed the national anthem. •
2015: "Kickoff to 50 presented by
Hyundai" was held at the
Justin Herman Plaza in
San Francisco,
California, the home of
Super Bowl 50, with
Ellie Goulding and
Train performing.
Dropkick Murphys,
T-Pain, and the
Springfield Symphony Orchestra performed at Gillette Stadium.
Grace Potter sang the national anthem. •
2016: "NFL Kickoff 2016 presented by Hyundai" was held at
Civic Center Park, with
Dierks Bentley and
OneRepublic performing live.
Andra Day sang the national anthem. •
2017: "NFL Kickoff 2017 presented by Hyundai" was held at the Christopher Columbus Park at
Boston Harborwalk, with the Boston-based Guster performing in place of
Miguel, who was unable to perform due to an illness.
Flo Rida also performed at the concert. The concert took place after a special screening of ''
America's Game: The 2016 New England Patriots''.
Maren Morris performed the national anthem. •
2018: "NFL Kickoff 2018 Driven by Hyundai" was held at
Penn's Landing in
Philadelphia, with
Shawn Mendes performing.
Boyz II Men sang the national anthem. A 45-minute weather delay due to a severe thunderstorm occurred immediately after the concert and delayed the kickoff of the game, pushing the kickoff back to 9:05 ET. •
2019: "NFL Kickoff 2019 presented by EA Sports
Madden NFL 20" was held at
Grant Park in
Chicago, with
Meek Mill,
Meghan Trainor and
Rapsody performing. The concert was part of the league's Inspire Change initiative of which the three artists performing at the event were among the first advocates of the season.
Chance the Rapper, was originally supposed to appear in the concert, but his performance was scrapped by the league.
Chicago Blackhawks anthem singer
Jim Cornelison sang the national anthem. •
2020: Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL Kickoff Concert was canceled for this year, instead, the title sponsorship was given to
EA Sports'
Madden NFL 21 video game for this year's event. NBC aired the
Queen Latifah hosted "Inspire Change" special a day prior to the kickoff.
Alicia Keys sang "
Lift Every Voice and Sing" and
Chloe x Halle sang the national anthem. •
2021: The "2021 NFL Kickoff Experience presented by
EA Sports Madden NFL 22" was held at
Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park. Alicia Keys, accompanied by the Florida A&M University
Marching 100 and Concert Choir, sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing", and
Michelle Williams accompanied by
Cory Henry sang the national anthem. Victory Boyd was originally going to sing the anthem at the game, but her performance was cancelled due to her
COVID-19 vaccine refusal, which she attributed to religious reasons.
Ed Sheeran headlined the pre-game concert. •
2022: The "2022 NFL Kickoff Experience presented by
Verizon" was held at
Alamitos Beach in
Long Beach.
Halle Bailey sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" while
Tinashe sang the national anthem.
J. Balvin headlined the pre-game concert.
Ozzy Osbourne performed at the halftime show. •
2023: The Kansas City Boys and Girls Choir performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" while
Natalie Grant sang the national anthem. •
2024:
Tasha Cobbs Leonard sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" while
Coco Jones sang the national anthem. •
2025:
Laurin Talese sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" while
Boyz II Men sang the national anthem. ==Television ratings==