Florida A&M University Marching “100” Band members will perform for the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star game festivities airing Sunday, March 7.
The Marching “100” Band and the Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band will play during the NBA All-Star player introductions from their respective historical campuses.
“We are ecstatic about the FAMU incomparable Marching ‘100’ performing for the NBA All-Star basketball game festivities,” said band director Shelby Chipman, Ph.D. About 34 band members will play for the occasion, he added. “Our students are going to present an amazing show with exciting music and creative choreography. The ‘100’ will be spectacular, and we can’t wait.”
This is will be the third national appearance for Marching “100” Band members so far this year. On January 11, Marching “100” head drum major Moises Martinez kicked off the Intercollegiate Marching Band virtual half time show during the NCAA National Championship Football Game.
On January 19, the Marching “100” performed virtually for the “We Are One” Presidential Inaugural Event. Hosted by the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), “We Are One” celebrated and honored all those within the Black community and African diaspora.
As part of the All-Star pre-game festivities, seven-time Grammy Award winner Gladys Knight, who graduated from Shaw University will sing the U.S. national anthem live from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, the NBA announced. In addition, Grammy Award winner and singer-songwriter Alessia Cara will sing the Canadian national anthem from Toronto. The anthems will air on TNT ahead of the 70th NBA All-Star Game.
Throughout the night, the National Basketball Association will pay tribute to the vital role of HBCUs through music, content and storytelling, including an original rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by the Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society Choir, which will sing from an iconic location on its campus. The rendition will honor NAACP leader and Black national anthem songwriter James Weldon Johnson, who is also a Clark Atlanta alumnus.
Throughout the game, members of the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities, a group of nine historically Black Greek letter organizations, will introduce Atlanta’s most reputable step teams from Spelman College and Morehouse College.
TNT’s coverage of the pre-game festivities will begin at 5 p.m. ET.
