Eagles

New Monday Night Football Anthem Features Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg, and Cindy Blackman

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Sep 18th, 2023 · 11:10 AM EDT

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Was not aware that a new MNF anthem was dropping, but here’s the teaser:

.@ChrisStapleton ❌ @SnoopDogg ❌ @CindyBlackmanS3

New Monday Night Football Anthem is coming … tonight 📺🍿 pic.twitter.com/u4JKycDxJf

— ESPN (@espn) September 18, 2023

Huh, alright. Interesting collab! That’s country singer Chris Stapleton, Snoop D-O-double G, aka the Doggfather, and Cindy Blackman, who you probably know best from her time playing with Lenny Kravitz. In the Air Tonight is a classic Phil Collins jam that has been covered by numerous other artists. It’s gotta be one of the most covered or sampled songs, ever. A brief Googling reveals 50+ covers spanning every genre imaginable since the original was published in 1981.

The theme is sticking around, though, according to the ESPN press release:

“Heavy Action,” the iconic Monday Night Football theme music, also remains. Fans will hear the famous instrumental following the new open and leading into Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters’ call of the game, as well as other times throughout the telecast. 

The new Monday Night Football anthem is comprised of Chris Stapleton covering Collins’ lyrics, with Snoop Dogg, in his signature style adding football-centric verses, Cindy Blackman Santana, a powerhouse on the drums, rocking the song’s iconic drum break and brings her own style and accents to this classic song. The show open will include NFL stars, game highlights and dramatic moments intercut with dramatic performances from all three artists. ESPN’s Creative Content Unit produced the open in conjunction with the musical trio and Grammy-award winning record producer Dave Cobb.

Now for DMX: