Everyone was shocked when senior defensive end Jackson Dean Nicholson sang the national anthem before a game at Arundel High School in Maryland. It was a surprise to everyone, but happily everyone loved it.
People were more interested in how he sang the national song than in how well he played the game. He chose to sing it himself because no one else was ready and he didn’t want a recording to be played.
In 2018, the video of him singing went popular on the web. He wasn’t a professional singer and all he had was an acoustic guitar, but Jackson sang the U.S. national song better than anyone else I’ve ever heard.
“That was cool. He said at the time, “I knew about 90% of the people sitting in those stands, but they didn’t know I was doing it until I pulled out my guitar.”
Jackson, whose real name was Jackson Dean, had heard music before. His first record was being made when the video went viral. He had been writing and singing songs since his freshman year.
Jackson said in 2018 that this was his last year playing football and that he was going to focus on his music business. He told her how thankful he was that his director was there for him.
He said, “I’m going to go for it.”
Have a great time, Jackson! That performance was amazing, and we hope it’s the start of many great things for you.