FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Multi-hit-producing singer-songwriter Edwin McCain will take the field at Gillette Stadium to sing the National Anthem prior to Sunday's 2016 AFC Championship game between the Patriots and Steelers. His performance will be nationally televised on CBS just before kickoff, which is scheduled for 6:40 p.m.
No stranger to the patriotic performance, the Charleston, S.C. native has belted out the "Star-Spangled Banner" in numerous stadiums, parks and arenas across the country, including the Carolina Panthers' Bank of America Stadium, the Atlanta Braves' Turner Field and a number of NASCAR races.
After getting his musical start in his local church choir, McCain combined his interest in vintage soul, R&B, classic rock and jazz fusion with his knack for songwriting and began playing in bars across the South. As his career took off in the mid-1990s, McCain signed with Atlantic Records' Lava subsidiary to release the first of nine studio albums he'd record throughout his career. With the release of his second and third studio albums came a large wave of success as two of McCain's singles, "I'll Be" and "I Could Not Ask for More" became radio top-40 hits.
Leaving their mark on the pop charts, the two singles transformed into lasting love songs. The songs appeared on soundtracks for various movies and television series and emerged as popular covers on hit music shows such as "American Idol" and "The Voice." Even pop sensation Justin Bieber has frequently performed his own rendition of McCain's "I'll Be."
As of late, McCain continues to perform nearly 100 shows on an annual basis. In 2015, he served as the host of the Animal Planet show "Flipping Ships." Most recently, he released a three-song EP, "Oh Edwin, Where Art Thou?" to close out 2016.
McCain joins hit-performers Pat Monahan of Train, country-music trio Gloriana and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler as some of the most recent anthem singers in AFC Championships held at Gillette Stadium as Sunday marks the third conference title game New England has hosted in the past six seasons. The Patriots will compete in their record sixth-straight AFC Championship and meet the Steelers in the conference title game for the third time in franchise history.