Carrie Underwood’s ‘The Champion’ Tops iTunes Chart After Super Bowl
Carrie Underwood recently debuted her sports anthem "The Champion," but it wasn't until after it was featured during NFL's Super Bowl on Sunday (Jan. 4) that it shot to the top of the charts.
The motivational song, featuring hip-hop star Ludacris, received two major features during the Super Bowl LII broadcast and subsequently leapfrogged from No. 14 to No. 1 on the iTunes chart.
Justin Timberlake (2018's Super Bowl halftime performer) saw a bump in his song sales as well, earning the No. 1 spot on the iTunes album side (his newly released Man of the Woods) and landing four single tracks in the Top 10. However, Timberlake's song "Say Something" featuring Chris Stapleton was surpassed by Underwood's "The Champion" on the iTunes singles chart during the broadcast. At the time of publication, "Say Something" sits at No. 2.
It's not exactly a surprise as "The Champion" was called on to serve as Super Bowl LII's official theme. Sunday Night Football Executive Producer Fred Gaudelli previously asked Underwood to write the song for the Super Bowl and a snippet of the track was debuted during the NFL wildcard game between the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 6. Underwood worked with songwriters Brett James, Chris DeStefano and Ludacris on the track, which was produced by Jim Jonsin.
"When we were writing 'The Champion,' our main focus was to celebrate athletes at the top of their game, but we also wanted the song to resonate with people in their everyday lives," she explains. "We hope the lyrics will inspire people to push themselves beyond their limits to conquer anything they are trying to accomplish or overcome. There’s a champion in every single one of us."
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