{"id":174176,"date":"2026-02-11T23:55:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/174176\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T23:55:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:55:58","slug":"oakland-indie-artist-gospel-choir-join-charlie-puth-for-super-bowl-lx-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/174176\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland indie artist, gospel choir join Charlie Puth for Super Bowl LX anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"Charlie\t\t\t\t\t\"Charlie\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCharlie Puth performs “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Feb. 8, 2026. Photo: Matthew Huang\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"SuperMembers of Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Sainted Trap Choir and Color of Noize Orchestra celebrate after their performance at Super Bowl LX at Levi\u2019s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026. Courtesy Max Gerlock.<\/p>\n

When Charlie Puth\u2019s managers needed local singers to honor the gospel tradition in his Whitney Houston Super Bowl LX tribute with \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d they went directly to the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir. Ten OIGC members were selected to perform. One was Max Gerlock, vocalist and guitarist of Oakland indie rock band Super Cassette.<\/p>\n

The opportunity arrived two weeks ahead of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a text saying I\u2019d been selected,\u201d Gerlock said. \u201cI was extremely excited, but I also had mini panic attacks leading up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Puth\u2019s team didn\u2019t provide any sheet music; only recordings. Choir director Terrance Kelly and choir members transcribed the parts by ear across four rehearsals before a final run-through at Levi\u2019s Stadium with Puth and the supporting musicians \u2014 including Kenny G on saxophone \u2014 on Friday, Oct. 6.<\/p>\n

The moment put Oakland\u2019s deep gospel tradition on the world\u2019s biggest stage \u2014 and for Gerlock, it was a crash course in translating generations of musical legacy into a performance that would reach more than 100 million viewers on TV, in addition to the 70,000 in attendance.<\/p>\n

The scale of the production was unlike anything Gerlock had experienced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe catering tents, the broadcast trailers \u2014 the technical achievement of putting something like that together is mind-blowing,\u201d Gerlock said. \u201cWatching it from the inside, you realize how much is happening that no one at home ever sees.\u201d<\/p>\n

The OIGC singers met members of the Sainted Trap Choir from Charlotte, North Carolina \u2014 who had performed at the Grammys with Pharrell just days earlier \u2014 and L.A.\u2019s Color of Noize Orchestra. Sainted Trap Choir\u2019s approval of the Oakland troupe\u2019s music transcription was a hard-won validation for Gerlock.<\/p>\n

Puth, the star of the moment, treated his supporting musicians well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very kind and thankful to the choir and the orchestra, and seemed genuinely touched to be performing the national anthem,\u201d Gerlock said. \u201cAfter thanking us in the rehearsal, he said, \u2018This is a big deal for me,\u2019 and he teared up after singing on the day of the Super Bowl, which I don\u2019t think was shown on the broadcast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Max<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tMax Gerlock and members of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir perform with Charlie Puth prior to Super Bowl LX at Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Feb. 8, 2026. Photo: Matthew Huang\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Charlie<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tCharlie Puth performs \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d prior to Super Bowl LX at Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Feb. 8, 2026. Photo: Matthew Huang\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Max<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tL to R: Max Gerlock, Jackson Hayes and Dennis Reed, Jr. celebrate their performance at Super Bowl LX at Levi\u2019s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026. Courtesy Gerlock.<\/p>\n

The choir members walked onto the field to set up for Puth\u2019s performance as Green Day was performing.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreen Day is my first favorite band. They\u2019re why I started playing guitar and singing,\u201d Gerlock said, adding that \u201cWelcome to Paradise,\u201d \u201c2000 Light Years Away\u201d and \u201cJesus of Suburbia\u201d were touchstones. Standing on the field with that music in the air, the moment touched the Oakland artist.<\/p>\n

Puth\u2019s performance largely garnered praise.<\/p>\n

Gerlock credited Dennis Reed, Jr., who directed Sainted Trap Choir and arranged the choir parts, as well Puth.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlie did a great job honoring the gospel legacy and bringing real blues inflection to the national anthem,\u201d Gerlock said. \u201cEveryone performed fantastically. Working with other artists left me completely in awe of the power of music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The adrenaline of the moment is\u00a0feeding directly into Super Cassette<\/a>\u2018s next chapter. The band has a tour in the works and an album in development. Gerlock said the songwriting has hit a new stride.<\/p>\n

Super Cassette plays Kilowatt in San Francisco on April 3.<\/p>\n

About The Author<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sery Morales<\/a><\/p>\n

Sery Morales grew up in a small town that only had three radio stations: country, Christian and classic rock. Her tastes are much wider. She plays the flute, piano, recorder and electric guitar\u2014though not very well. To make up for her mediocre skills, she befriended musicians around Oakland for the last 10 years; not because they were musicians, but because they laughed at her jokes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sery Morales grew up in a small town that only had three radio stations: country, Christian and classic rock. Her tastes are much wider. She plays the flute, piano, recorder and electric guitar\u2014though not very well. To make up for her mediocre skills, she befriended musicians around Oakland for the last 10 years; not because they were musicians, but because they laughed at her jokes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlie Puth performs “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[10587,143,145,83157,144,11191,83158],"class_list":["post-174176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-charlie-puth","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-interfaith-gospel-choir","tag-oakland-news","tag-super-bowl-lx","tag-super-cassette"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}