{
  "id": 13867572,
  "title": "Who sings the 'Monday Night Football' theme song? See 2026 performers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/who-sings-the-monday-night-football-theme-song-see-2026-performers",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-12T04:00:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/sings-monday-night-football-theme-040022320.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chris Stapleton, Cindy Blackman Santana, and Ludacris are currently the performers for the Monday Night Football theme song, having taken over from the original version sung by country singer Hank Williams Jr. in 1989. Williams Jr.'s rendition earned him four Emmys and remained the opening track for over two decades until ESPN removed it in 2011 due to his controversial comments about former President Barack Obama. The network then tested different versions of the jingle, before returning Williams Jr.'s song in 2017 and keeping it as the fanfare until 2019. Other singers who have performed the theme song include Little Richard in 2020, and a remixed version of Phil Collins' \"Heavy Action\" in 2022. The current theme song is a reimagined version of \"In the Air Tonight\" by Stapleton, Snoop Dogg, and Santana.",
  "summary": "\"Monday Night Football\" is back! Here's a look at the history of its theme song.",
  "key_points": [
    "Hank Williams Jr. sang the original theme from 1989 to 2011, earning four Emmys.",
    "The song was replaced in 2011 due to Williams Jr.'s controversial comments about Barack Obama."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}