Carrie Underwood and Ludacris may not be two artists music fans are used to hearing in the same sentence, but it turns out the country superstar and the hip-hop legend have actually teamed up in the studio together for an epic new collaboration, which is set for release tomorrow (January 12) to hype the world up for the 2018 Super Bowl.
Though Underwood’s been teasing the song for a while now after Variety reported back in September that NBC had asked the star, who performs the network’s Sunday Night Football theme song, to write a very special track for the upcoming Super Bowl LII, it was finally confirmed this week that the track also features a special guest in the form of Ludacris.
The rap star and actor officially revealed that he raps on Carrie’s new song “The Champion,” which she shared a sneak peek of on her Instagram page on January 6, admitting on Twitter this week that he’s always open to doing something a little unexpected.
After a fan tweeted a screenshot of the song to the rapper and referred to their collaboration as being very “unexpected,” Ludacris then replied to the Twitter user of his latest duet, “I love doing the unexpected” alongside the A-Okay hand emoji.
I love doing the unexpected. ?? https://t.co/CExuur4Xnq
— Ludacris (@Ludacris) January 10, 2018
Ludacris’s tweet marked the first time he’d officially confirmed his role on Carrie’s latest song after rumors began to swirl late last week that the two had collaborated in the studio.
“The Champion” is expected to serve as the soundtrack to NBC’s coverage of the big football game, airing live across the globe from U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, on February 4.
The song will also be the first new music Carrie releases since falling outside her home back in November, which caused her to break her wrist and injure her face, which required 40 to 50 stitches.
For her part, Underwood’s been teasing the song across her social media accounts over the past few days, confirming earlier this week that it’s set for official release on January 12.
Sharing a graphic featuring the word “Invincible” with her more than 6.7 million Instagram followers on January 8, she confirmed, “#TheChampion coming January 12. #SBLII.”
Carrie has since shared a few more sneak peeks at the song’s lyrics on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, sharing the words “Unbreakable” and “Unstoppable” with her followers across her various social media accounts.
And it sounds like fans are pretty excited to finally get new music from the country superstar following her recent hiatus from the music scene, as she hasn’t released a solo single since she dropped “Dirty Laundry” from her 2015 album Storyteller back in September 2016, though she did team up with Keith Urban for “The Fighter.”
Underwood’s fans haven’t done much to hide their excitement about the impending release of “The Champion” on social media amid the country star’s various teases, tweeting their enthusiasm for the Super Bowl song to finally drop later this week.
“Dang Carrie, we’ve waited a while for some new music and you did not disappoint. Perfect song for the [Super Bowl],” tweeted one fan of the track, which was commissioned by NBC, while another said of Underwood and Ludacris teaming up for a collaboration, “Very unusual pairing but @carrieunderwood & @Ludacris killed it. #TheChampion #SBLII.”
“This [is] the Ludacris & Carrie Underwood collab we never thought we needed and it’s [fire],” said a third fan of the unexpected pairing on the social media site.
Carrie Underwood and Ludacris’s Super Bowl 52 duet, “The Champion,” is set for release on January 12.