What Is the History of the Sunday Night Football Song?
Sunday Night Football has used “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” as its introduction song since NBC first started airing football games on Sunday nights. Pink, Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood have all performed the song.
“Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” uses the music of Joan Jett’s hit song “I Hate Myself For Loving You” and alters its lyrics to fit a football-related theme. The song has experienced minor changes through the years, but it has always ended with the line “the NFL rocks on NBC.” Also, the song sometimes alters its lyrics to reference the teams participating in a given week’s game.
Pink was the first singer to perform the Sunday Night Football theme song. She only held the job for one season, before Faith Hill took over. The song’s arrangement was altered slightly to fit Hill’s country music background. Many fans saw NBC’s focus on Hill’s legs, high heel boots and use of leather during the performance as an effort to attract male viewers.
Carrie Underwood then took over for Hill, and the arrangement and lyrics were again altered. Underwood performs the song in a shiny silver short dress and high-heel shoes, following Hill’s example.
