Super Bowl 2017 national anthem singer: Who is Luke Bryan?

Luke Bryan is the national anthem performer for Super Bowl 51.

To some, that name is familiar. To others, probably not so much.

Bryan is a country singer from Georgia. He’s about as “country singer from Georgia” as they get. I mean, just look at him.

No, not the one on the left. That’s Vince Vaughn. He is not performing the national anthem in the Super Bowl. The one on the right, that’s Luke.

Bryan started his career writing music for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington (two other country singers, for those of you unfamiliar with the genre) before releasing his own music. Bryan is one of the founding fathers of what we like to call Bro Country. It’s a subset of modern country music easily identified by its themes of drinking beer with the boys down by the lake, chasing women wearing ripped up jeans, and driving trucks jacked up high to compensate for something else. (Only kidding about that last part, kind of.)

It crosses over into pop and a little bit of hip-hop, when certain artists, including Bryan, try out a little bit of tricky fast-talk-singing.

He encapsulates Bro Country perfectly in his 2016 hit, “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day” — also the name of his upcoming tour. The chorus goes as follows:

A huntin’, fishin’, and lovin’ every day/That’s the prayer that a country boy prays/Thank God He made me this way/Huntin’ and fishin’ and lovin’ every day/Early in the morning and late in the evening/I’m getting red dirt rich and Flint River* pay/Huntin’ and fishin’ and lovin’ every day

*He’s talking about the one in Georgia, not its better-known, controversial Michigan counterpart.

And that’s exactly what Luke Bryan does best. Non-controversy. What was probably his biggest scandal took place in 2015, when he made disparaging comments about older country music stars and their drug use, thus making himself, a red-blooded, clean-cut, beer drinker, more wholesome by comparison.

There was also that one little time in 2012 when he sang the national anthem in the MLB All-Star Game, but had to read the words off his hand. He profusely apologized for that, too. I’m certain he’s learned his lesson and that won’t happen this time around. He’s had almost five years to learn the words, after all.

Aside from his little lyrical mishap, Bryan is honestly a decent choice for national anthem singer. Does he have a particularly melodic voice? No. Is he diverse in any way? Not at all. Does he have an infectious smile? Absolutely. Does he have experience performing in front of stadium crowds? Yes, he’s done NFL halftime shows before. Is he a fan favorite? He’s got the awards to prove it.

There are better singers out there. There are more politically active singers out there. But you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone more bland than Bryan. And that’s just what the NFL is looking for at this point in time. Someone who’s not going to make a fuss, and someone who hopefully this time around won’t forget the words.