Babyface says he plans to dedicate his honorable performance at Super Bowl LVII to his mother.
During his conversation with TMZ Hip Hop on Tuesday, January 24, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmunds admitted that he might be a little nervous leading up to his scheduled performance of "America the Beautiful." Nonetheless, he plans to bare his soul for the millions of people watching at the State Farm Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona and around the country. In honor of the rare occasion, Babyface is teaming up with clothing company Shine the Light On to make a special tribute to his mother Barbara Edmunds.
“I’ll be completely rattled when this happens,” Babyface said. “As much as I’m going to try to be comfortable with it, I know I’m going to be nervous because you think about how many people you’re actually performing for and what that moment means, and I won’t take that moment lightly because it is an honor. And no matter what anyone thinks, to have this moment at this point in my life as well, it’s very special so I’m gonna treat it with respect.”
“For these past few years ever since my mom passed away, I’ve always been always kind of pushing myself to go do things that would be either out of my comfort zone or things that I hadn’t done before,” he continued. “And so now here I am on the Super Bowl and I could just imagine what she would think at this particular point. And even my brother Marvin who’s not here with us either, he’d be jumping up and down.”
The clothing company will make special pink hoodies and donate some of the proceeds from the sales to the non-profit organization Keep Memory Alive, which is something she was involved with before her death. His mother passed away in 2012 at the age of 80 after suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. His older brother Melvin Edmunds, who was a founding member of Indianapolis R&B group After 7, died in 2019 following a brief illness.
Babyface is expected to perform alongside Sheryl Lee-Ralph, who will belt out the Black National Anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and Chris Stapleton, who will deliver "The Star-Spangled Banner." Rihanna is also set to headline the halftime show.