6 things about the national anthem singer at Chiefs opener (it’s not Trisha Yearwood)

Some Kansas City Chiefs fans recognize the woman chosen to sing the national anthem before the season opener on Thursday. And the others?

The answer to their question is no, that is not Trisha Yearwood.

The Chiefs are bringing back Natalie Grant, nine-time Grammy nominee and five-time Gospel Music Association female vocalist of the year.

Considered one of the most influential singers in Christian music, Grant previously sang the anthem in Arrowhead Stadium before the September 2019 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

She is scheduled to sing the anthem at 7:19 p.m. Thursday, right before kickoff. NBC has announced her performance will be televised.

The Chiefs will play the Detroit Lions in the first NFL game of the 2023 season.

“Y’all know how much I love football! And I get to sing our anthem again, for the kickoff game of @nfl season? And it’s airing live on NBC? Pinch me. #whatislife,” Grant wrote on her Facebook page over the weekend.

This is not Grant’s first star-spangled rodeo. She went viral last year with a passionate rendition of the anthem at college football’s national championship game.

She stylized it with country loop-de-loops and piercing Whitney Houston-esque trills. The crowd roared when she pointed to the sky, punctuating “… the bombs bursting in air. Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there!”

Fans outside of Christian music were so curious to know more about her that “Natalie Grant” became the fifth-most searched topic on Google that night.

She and her husband, Canadian Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Bernie Herms, live in Nashville with their three daughters. Here are six other things to know about the woman slated to take GEHA Field Thursday.

1. She released a single last month with Dolly Parton

The two covered “Step by Step,” which Houston sang on the soundtrack of her 1996 Christmas movie, “The Preacher’s Wife.” It will be featured on Grant’s new album, “Seasons,” debuting Oct. 6.

2. Thyroid cancer threatened her singing career

In 2017, Grant told fans that doctors had found two tumors that required thyroid surgery. Tests confirmed she had papillary thyroid cancer that had not spread to surrounding lymph nodes or tissue.

“So, in other words, they got it all,” Grant said in a video posted on her Facebook page. “The doctor’s office actually said, ‘Congratulations. You have no more cancer in your body.’”

Contrary to what doctors had warned, the cancer didn’t damage her voice, and Grant has spoken passionately about the healing power of Jesus Christ.

3. She sang the national anthem before the GOP presidential debate

But it wasn’t about endorsing a candidate or party last month, she said in a statement. “I am patriotic,” she told Fox News. “I like to keep politics to those who know how to do that best and talk about it best. And I love my country. I love our anthem. And it’s just an honor and a privilege.”

She said she’d had the “distinct privilege” of singing at events for both Republicans and Democrats in the past.

4. ‘Law & Order’ inspired her to fight human trafficking

A 2004 episode depicting children being bought and sold inspired her to travel to Mumbai, India, to see work being done there to end modern slavery.

“During the visit, she saw children for sale on the street and a six-year-old girl locked inside a cage. Two weeks after returning from the trip, Natalie heard a news report about 12 girls under the age of 15 being rescued from a brothel in her hometown, Nashville,” says the website of Hope for Justice, the nonprofit born from a merger of Grant’s Abolition International organization and two other groups. Hope for Justice works on five continents.

5. She roots for the Seattle Seahawks

She wore a Chiefs jersey the last time she sang the anthem in Arrowhead. But she was born in Seattle and still cheers on her hometown team.

6. She is not related to that other Christian singer named Grant

The internet has conjured all sorts of incorrect trivia about Natalie Grant and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Amy Grant, who is married to country star Vince Gill. Maybe they’re sisters? Mother and daughter?

Natalie is Amy’s mother? That would be what you call a miracle given that Natalie is 51 and Amy is 62.