Knight, Cara, HBCU bands among NBA All-Star Game performers

ATLANTA — Atlanta native Gladys Knight will be among the headline performers at the NBA All-Star Game on March 7, performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the pregame festivities.

Knight, a seven-time Grammy winner who has been vaccinated for COVID-19, will be present at the game. Many other musical performers will appear remotely, including Grammy winner Alessia Cara, who will sing “O Canada” from Toronto.

Knight is a graduate of Shaw University, one of the oldest historically Black institutions in the country, and HBCUs will be featured throughout the night.

The Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society Choir will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referred to as the Black national anthem.

The Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band and Florida A&M University Marching 100 — two of the best college bands in the country — will perform during the All-Star player introductions, from their respective campuses. And members of the Divine Nine, a group of historically Black fraternities and sororities, will introduce performances by step teams from Spelman and Morehouse colleges.