NFL

Watch Celine Dion make surprise appearance to narrate ‘Sunday Night Football' intro

The Grammy winner even had a cooler of Gatorade dumped on her like a Super Bowl winning coach.

Celine Dion
Cindy Ord/Getty Images

It's all coming back to Cowboys and Steelers fans now....thanks to Celine Dion.

The singer made a surprise appearance to narrate an opening sequence before the two storied NFL franchises met on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" -- stirring up memories of the glory days for each fanbase.

The five-time Grammy winner wore a Super Bowl XXX sweatshirt, commemorating the Cowboys' win over the Steelers in 1996. The shirt became drenched during the grand finale of the open, when a cooler of Gatorade was dumped on Dion as if she was a Super Bowl winning coach.

Dion's hit song from 1996 -- "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" -- played under her narration, along with grainy highlights of the team's star players from yesteryear. 

"I think my favorite thing about this game is its power to connect who we are to who we were," Dion said. "To prove that our most powerful memories, our most enduring loves can stay with us forever. You know what I'm talking about, right? Sometimes, some nights, it all just comes back.

"The love affair. Well, maybe not love the way I usually sing about it, but still, you know, work with me here. I mean, when you touch me like this, when you hold me like that...it kind of fits, no?" she continued as highlights of tackles played.

"But really, what beautiful passion it produced, what painful heartbreak it revealed, so, so long ago. Like so many old flames, it always feels right when they're back together. Don't you think?"

The 56-year-old Dion canceled her world tour in 2023 after revealing she was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a disease that causes painful spasms and makes it hard to walk. She returned to make her first public performance in years during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in July, singing from the base of the Eiffel Tower.

She was back on of one sport's grandest stages on Sunday night.

The Cowboys and Steelers have met in the Super Bowl three times, with the Steelers winning Super Bowl X in 1976 and Super Bowl XIII in 1979. Sunday night marked the first primetime showdown between the two teams since 1982, and their first time playing on NBC since the Cowboys' 27-17 victory over the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.

So, the occasion called for one of the biggest stars of that generation, making Dion an unexpected hype woman for Sunday night's game (along with Carrie Underwood, of course).  

"Like tonight, evoking the kind of magic it once produced," Dion said. "The Cowboys and the Steelers, a timeless classic, on Sunday night."

Carrie Underwood is the voice of the Sunday Night Anthem welcoming fans into Sunday Night Football, but how long has she been opening SNF?
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