Just before the Los Angeles Rams would go on to win the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Grammy-award winning artist and Queens star Brandy graced the crowd with her vocals to sing the National Anthem.
Often referred to as the “vocal bible,” her performance was stellar (I mean, duh. It’s Brandy, act like you know), but it was her outfit choice that arguably got more attention.
As many were quick to point out online, Brandy’s red, white, and black Prada tracksuit was an an immediate call back to her idol and mentor Whitney Houston. For reference, Houston wore a tracksuit with a similar color scheme a little over 30 years ago during here iconic performance of the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXV in 1991.
Brandy has long talked about the impact Houston had on her life and career, the two grew closer when they worked together on the 1997 film Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, co-produced by Houston herself.
In an interview with People last year, Brandy reminisced on the experience, saying in part:
“[It] was a collaborative thing, and what I loved about working with her is that I was allowed to contribute, I was allowed to be myself. And then I was allowed to get all the pointers from her that I could soak in. We had some beautiful, funny moments that I can remember forever. She’s really my angel, and I’m just so appreciative to her for this opportunity.”
She later added, “It was mind-blowing, even though I had been around different celebrities before, but these particular ones touched me in different ways that I never would have thought that I would have worked with them. And it was just magical.”