ESPN has decided to revamp their Monday Night Football intro a tad, keeping country star Chris Stapleton and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana around to sing a rendition of “In the Air Tonight,” and adding rapper Ludacris.
The reimagined Phil Collins track, which was a part of his 1981 debut album Face Value, has actually acted as the Monday Night Football intro theme since 2023. When they originally debuted it, Snoop Dogg was in the role that’s now going to be filled with Ludacris. If you were unfamiliar with ESPN’s MNF intro music… just think of it as the Worldwide Leader In Sports’ version of the Sunday Night anthem famously performed by Carrie Underwood.
ESPN seems to be very excited about this refresh, and explained the slight modification to the intro music in a press release earlier today:
“Stapleton’s powerful vocals and Blackman Santana’s signature drum change have become staples of the Monday Night Football brand, helping transform Collins’ classic into the soundtrack of football’s biggest stage.
Together with Ludacris, the trio delivers a fresh take on the anthem while preserving the energy and anticipation fans associate with Monday nights.”
Admittedly, it’s a great song on its own to lead into a big-time sporting event. It was only made that much better by selecting the incomparable Chris Stapleton to sing the famous “I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord” lyrics.
Where Ludacris comes in is personalizing each and every week’s rendition. Like in years past, Stapleton’s recording won’t change.
It’ll only be the verses that come after these below – presumably – that will update on a weekly basis:
“Monday night magic
Closing out the weekend
Luda on the mic
It’s football season!”
I’ve never really thought of Monday nights as “closing out the weekend,” but I suppose if they are talking “football weekend,” that makes sense.
Julie McGlone, ESPN VP, Production, and Executive Producer of the In the Air Tonight project, says that the already established Monday Night Football anthem was great as it was, but adding Ludacris to the mix takes it up a notch:
“Chris and Cindy have helped make ‘In the Air Tonight’ an integral part of the Monday Night Football experience over the last three seasons.
Adding Ludacris to the legacy MNF anthem brings a new dimension to the creative and continues our tradition of celebrating the intensity, anticipation and shared emotion of American sports culture, where music, competition and spectacle come together to make each game feel like a cultural event.”
You don’t hear Stapleton’s vocals in that video above, but traditionally, his contribution to the song comes towards the beginning of the song. Then leading right into the game, the role that was formerly occupied by Snoop Dogg – and now Ludacris – provides more specific lyrics about that matchup that’s about to take place.
I suppose the Ludacris role is necessary, just because that’s how ESPN has done it since they adopted the “In The Air Tonight” theme a couple of years ago? But it would be silly to think that Stapleton doesn’t have enough star power to carry the song on his own. Underwood does it for Sunday Night Football, and the “White Horse” singer could certainly do it for Monday Night Football.
I do wonder if it ever crossed ESPN’s mind to just roll with Stapleton, but regardless, at least they kept the country star around rather than completely shifting gears with their Monday Night Football intro.
