Who Sings a Cover of Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" on 'Monday Night Football'?
Published Nov. 15 2021, 2:45 p.m. ET
When it comes to the NFL, followers of the league know that the television broadcast always features a musical theme. Carrie Underwood has helmed the Sunday Night Football theme tune for years; she recently reworked "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night" to amp up the excitement for fans.
Now, Monday Night Football has traditionally stuck with Johnny Pearson's legendary "Heavy Action" as their theme, but for the 2021 NFL season, there is another song that's taking the crowd by storm.
The sports program started playing a cover of Lionel Richie's 1983 famous hit, "All Night Long (All Night)," and fans of all ages are curious to know the face behind the mystery voice. If it's not Lionel Richie, who is singing "All Night Long" on Monday Night Football?
Who sings "All Night Long" on 'Monday Night Football'?
Per Fansided, the cover of "All Night Long" is performed by none other than Aloe Blacc. The singer/songwriter is known for his hit singles "The Man" and "I Need A Dollar." He's also known for co-writing and performing on Avicii's "Wake Me Up," which achieved notable success in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The publication also reported that Aloe Blacc's Monday Night Football feature is not his first venture into the sports industry. He performed during both the 2016 NBA Finals and Wrestlemania 31 in 2015, and is featured on "The World Is Ours" from the 2014 FIFA World Cup compilation album.
"The Man" was also extensively used at the 2014 NFL Draft; a Reddit user calculated that EPSN played the song more than 110 times during the draft, with the network blaring the tune 24 times in the seventh round alone (talk about overplayed, right?). Many users replied that the song haunted them in their sleep and called back to the lyrics and said, "Do you think he's finally told everybody?"
The MLB also featured the song in several advertisements leading up to the 2014 MLB All-Star Game. By this time, the song was already so overplayed, and fans of the league were furious with the theme song choice. The fans can be mad all they want, but no one can deny that Aloe Blacc was bringing in millions worth of royalties that year due to the track's success.
Aloe Blacc mentored an aspiring singer for their performance of the national anthem.
The United States men's national soccer team competed against the Mexican national soccer team in a World Cup qualifying match on Nov. 12, 2021. As part of ESPN's promotional support, their marketing team made the dreams of aspiring singer King Kell come true.
The network also reported that Aloe Blacc served as King Kell's mentor. Aloe's main job was to make sure King Kell had fun and gave the best performance possible.