Sandy Hook Chorus Will Sing ‘America the Beautiful’ At Super Bowl

Students from the Sandy Hook Chorus will sing at this year’s Super Bowl XLVII, performing “America The Beautiful” at the start of the event before Alicia Keys sings “The Star Spangled Banner.”

The Sandy Hook Chorus is being flown down to the event thanks to the NFL, and the league has been vocally supportive of Newtown’s plight in the wake of the massacre that killed 20 first-grade students and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary on January 14. USAToday reports:

“The gesture will cap a season in which the league lent its support to the Newtown community via ‘S.H.E.S.’ stickers on helmets, personal messages on cleats and gloves, moments of silence before games and charitable donations for relief causes, as well other means of emotional support.”

One of the Sandy Hook victims, six-year-old Jack Pinto, was an avid New York Giants fan and in particular, idolized player Victor Cruz. Just weeks ago, Cruz visited Pinto’s family and remarked of the meeting:

“It was a time where I just wanted to be a positive voice, a positive light in a time where it can be very negative. It was a good time … They’re a great family and they are really united right now at this time. It was good to see.”

Pinto was buried wearing a Victor Cruz jersey.

Some have decried the Super Bowl XLVII invitation extended to Sandy Hook’s chorus as “exploitative,” but most seem to view the tribute as appropriate and heartening to honor the victims of the tragedy in Newtown.

Below is a video of the Sandy Hook chorus performing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” Their rendition of “America The Beautiful” will be available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes ahead of Super Bowl XLVII.