The exceptional performance of The Star-Spangled Banner is one of the few things that genuinely gets the blood pumping.
Ask anyone who saw Jackson Dean Nicholson’s performance as a senior defensive end at Maryland’s Arundel High School a few years ago.
We’re not referring to his performance during the game but rather to how he sang the national anthem before it. It impressed the local audience and thousands of online users over the years.
According to sources, Nicholson was faced with a choice when he realized no one else could sing the national anthem before his school’s game. Of course, he could have allowed the school to play a tape over the speakers or the audience to sing the song themselves.
However, Nicholson seems to be made of a different material. The teenager from high school took the field alone before the game, carrying only an acoustic guitar and a microphone.
It’s hardly surprising that the video ended up being a viral sensation that has repeatedly resurfaced because he provided one of the best renditions of the American national anthem we’ve ever heard right away.
The fact that the video, first posted in 2018, is still striking and relevant today is evidence of how brilliantly Nicholson sings.
“It was awesome,” Nicholson told the Baltimore Sun at the time, “I probably knew 90% of the people in those stands, and they didn’t know I was doing it until I pulled my guitar out.”
For his five minutes of fame, Nicholson may have been outfitted as a senior defensive end, but his main love in life is music. Since he was a freshman, he has been writing and performing songs, and right before he went viral, he was working on his album.
He correctly chose the stage name Jackson Dean because Jack Nicholson is already a reasonably well-known actor.
Jackson declared in 2018 on his football career: “This is my final year, then I’m done. I’ll have completed all of my credits by January, and I only need to be enrolled for this semester. My principal granted me a waiver, and she supports what I do.
“I’ll take a chance on it.”
Jackson, good luck to you!
Jackson’s performance blows us away, and wants as many people as possible to watch it.
