Mariachis perform US anthem at Chicago stadium for the first time — Mexico News Daily
In Chicago, United States, the Mariachi Herencia de México ensemble became the first mariachi group to perform the United States national anthem at Soldier Field stadium. The instrumental rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner was played before the NFL game between the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles as part of the club's annual events for Hispanic Heritage Month.
The performance by the group's 14 members was broadcast by ABC and ESPN. The game ended with the Chicago Bears defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 27-7. Mexico News Daily reports, citing CBS Chicago, on the historic nature of the performance at Soldier Field.
A group from Chicago
Mariachi Herencia de México emerged about ten years ago in Chicago from an educational program that taught the city's public school students mariachi music and introduced them to cultural heritage. The program later reached 2,100 students at eight schools, and 20 participants were selected to form the ensemble's first lineup.
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The group, whose name roughly translates as “Mariachi Heritage of Mexico,” performs mainly in the United States. In 2017, it gave a concert for Mexico's Independence Day at the Kennedy Center in Washington. The group was nominated twice for a Latin Grammy in the Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album category — for its debut album Nuestra Herencia in 2017 and Herederos in 2023.
Reaction on social media
The performance also drew negative comments on social media from some supporters of President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again movement. In particular, the Gunther Eagleman account on X wrote that performing the US anthem in mariachi style seemed unusual to it and expressed the view that the anthem should be preserved in its traditional sound.
This was not the first performance of the US anthem by mariachis at a sports event in Chicago: in 2016, Mariachi Monumental de México played The Star-Spangled Banner before a Chicago White Sox baseball game on Cinco de Mayo. However, the performance by Mariachi Herencia de México was the first such occasion specifically at Soldier Field.
