Lauren Daigle Sees ‘Vindication’ as She Prepares to Perform at Super Bowl Pregame Show
Christian artist Lauren Daigle is preparing to perform at the pregame show at Super Bowl LIX at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans this Sunday, which she describes as a moment of "vindication" after an incident in 2020.
"To get this moment years later, I would say for anybody watching that has had their reputations smeared in any sort of way, and they are just waiting for the moment of vindication, sometimes it only takes five years," Daigle, a Louisiana native, told Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo on his podcast, "Arroyo Grande."
Daigle, in her first participation in the major sporting event in five years, previously faced criticism due to a public health guidance violation after performing at a "Let Us Worship" event outdoors led by California worship leader and activist Sean Feucht. At the time, the "You Say" singer was asked by Feucht, a personal friend, to join her in an impromptu appearance.
"[Daigle] harmed our people, she risked the lives of our residents, and she strained our first responders in a way that is unconscionable — in the midst of a public health crisis. This is not who we are, and she cannot be allowed to represent New Orleans or the people she willfully endangered," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat, stated at the time.
As a result, she was removed from Dick Clark Productions' annual New Year's Rockin' Eve celebration.
Daigle issued a statement at the time, saying she was "disappointed that my spontaneous participation has become part of the political discourse, and I'm saddened by the divisive agendas of these times.
Regarding Cantrell's statement, Daigle said, "I went home to Lafayette, and I got in my parents' bed, and I pulled the covers over my head as an adult. I was like, 'Gosh, here we are again.' Because now there's no amount of public ridicule that is fun."
"What I learned is that when people need an element of hope, coming together is one of the most beautiful things," she continued. "It is one of the most incredible rights that we have in this country. It is. And I think to take that away from people is so disheartening, especially in a time like that."
At this Sunday's Super Bowl pregame show, Daigle will perform a rendition of "America The Beautiful" alongside jazz musician Trombone Shorty, Faithwire reports.
"How can I use this song?" she asked rhetorically. "[T]he line — and I'm not trying to sound cliché at all because I know, 'Hello, Christian,' whatever — [w]hen it says, 'God shed His grace on me,' that line, it just really gripped me to the core in a way."
"I've sang songs over talking about God, right?" the singer-songwriter continued. "But when you see a song that is meant for something else, and it still includes the power of God in it … it's meant to honor our nation and show the beauty of our nation. Right? But they also know God has done something for this nation. There's something unique about this. To be able to sing that song with a true conviction versus just, 'Yeah, I'm just going to jump up on stage and have this opportunity.'"
On Thursday, Feucht made a post on Instagram highlighting Daigle's backlash in 2020 to now singing in this Sunday's Super Bowl.
"VINDICATION IS COMING NEW ORLEANS!" Feucht wrote. Who is ready to praise Jesus during Super Bowl wknd?"
WATCH: Lauren Daigle: To the Super Bowl from the Depths of Despair
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Kevin Winter/Staff
Originally published February 07, 2025.
