Carrie Underwood will be performing the opening theme to NBC’s Sunday Night Football beginning with the Sept. 8 game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. She replaces Faith Hill, who recently announced plans to retire from singing “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” after five seasons.
In announcing the news during a Tuesday afternoon (May 7) press conference, Underwood said, “I think it’s the perfect fit. I am such a sports fan and football fan, and we love Sunday nights around my household, so for me to be a part of it is something really special.” Noting she has not yet recorded her new version of the song that’s based on Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” Underwood said, “We definitely want to make it sound different, sound like me. Faith put her stamp on it for a long time and did such a wonderful job. It was totally Faith. She owned it, so we definitely wanted to be mindful of that and go in and change things up a little bit.”