Dierks Bentley is looking forward to watching the match-up between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at Sunday’s (February 12th) Super Bowl. He’s also looking forward to watching the night’s entertainment, including Chris Stapleton’s rendition of the National Anthem, Rihanna’s half-time performance and, of course, the commercials.

“I’ve been to the last Super Bowl in Arizona. It was the New York Giants against the New England Patriots. I was actually sitting next to Peyton Manning. I did not know him at the time. He was there rooting on his brother Eli, which was pretty cool to see that whole thing playing out,” says Dierks. “Now we have two brothers playing actually in the Super Bowl at the same time. The Kelce Brothers. I think the mother’s name is Donna, so it’s a crazy story for her. It’s gonna be a great day and a really sad day for her. It’s kind of a no-win situation for her. But that’s a cool event to have those guys playing together. I think they said other firsts in the Super Bowl to have two black quarterbacks for the first time starting in Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, so both those guys are awesome. I’m just hoping for a close game, you know? Looking forward to the half-time show, the commercials, you know? That half-time show, it’s a million dollars a minute, and it’s a 13 ½ minute half-time show, so just Rihanna, all the collaborations, the surprises, the whole thing’s so fun. But yeah, the longer it can be closer, the better the Super Bowl is for me.”

A self-proclaimed Rihanna fan, Dierks says he would like to see more country music performers at next year’s Super Bowl. 
“And another cool first for him, Chris Stapleton is playing the Super Bowl. He’s doing the National Anthem. For me personally, I’d be very happy watching Chris doing the half-time show. He would be amazing, and I think people would really love it. I’m a big Rihanna fan too. I’d like to sit down with Rihanna and figure out how she made 1.7 billion dollars. That’d be an interesting conversation. (laughs) But I think in 2024, we need country as the half-time show. I’m just gonna say the Hot Country Knights are available.”

The only all-country music half-time show took place in 1994 with Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt and the Judds. Shania Twain took part in the half-time show in 2003, alongside No Doubt and Sting. Previous country stars singing the National Anthem include Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, the Dixie Chicks, Luke Bryan, Eric Church and Mickey Guyton.

Also performing this year are Emmy-winning actor Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbot Elementary) with “Lift Every Voice and Sing” during the pre-show. Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds will also perform with a rendition of “America the Beautiful.”

A cool note — Oscar winner Troy Kotsur will sign the national anthem alongside Stapleton. Kotsur won an Academy Award in 2022 for Best Supporting Actor for his work in “CODA,” becoming the second Deaf person ever to win an acting Oscar after Marlee Matlin.

The Big Game kicks off at 6:30pm ET/5:30pm CT Sunday (February 12th) on FOX.

For more Super Bowl-related audio, click HERE.

Dierks is making his way into the Top 10 on the country charts with his latest single, “Gold,” which is from his upcoming album, Gravel & Gold, available February 24th.