Ledisi's mother Nyra Dynese was a soul singer, her stepfather Joseph Pierce III a drummer, her biological father Larry Saunders a singer and her grandfather was blues artist Johnny Ace.

This year, the latter song — also known colloquially as the "Black National Anthem," will be sung by Ledisi. Ledisi was born in 1972 in New Orleans, the site of Super Bowl 59. The 52-year-old ...