For warm up, Anika Sherman performed the U.S. national anthem at a Taco John’s in an Indiana rest stop. “I’m not actually here to buy tacos,” Sherman, singer-songwriter and OPRF senior, told employees. “I’m going to be singing the national anthem for the Bears game next week, and I was wondering if I could practice.”
Sherman said she needed to perform before the game “just to get the nerves off,” even if the audience was 10 people in a Taco John’s.
The staff gathered around and road trippers looked up as Sherman, wearing gray knit pajamas, gave her impromptu performance. Her best friend, Hollyn Meadows, and her parents, Victoria and Dave Meadows, who were all on a road trip back from Michigan, pushed her to give the performance.
On Nov. 23, about a week after the Taco John’s performance, Sherman performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” for more than 65,000 people at the inaugural Women and Girls in Sports game at Soldier Field.
Sherman, 18, remembers her first performance at the Unity Temple fall family retreat when she was five or six years old. Dressed in a planets costume, she sang “Interplanet Janet” from Schoolhouse Rock in the talent show. “As a little kid, like, I loved attention,” said Sherman. “I love performing. I don’t get too scared when I’m performing. I feel like it really comes natural to me.”
Since “Interplanet Janet,” Sherman has taken voice lessons with Emi Lee Frantz at Elfi Music Studio, traveled to the Junior Theater Festival with Ovation, and sung R&B and jazz duets with her mom, Victoria Storm.
Sherman is always listening to music. Her favorite artists are Lauryn Hill and Erukah Badu, and she said her favorite song will always be “Ultralight Beam” by Kanye West. Sherman’s artist name is Anika Hail, and next week she will be releasing her single “Known Better” on all streaming platforms.
Earlier this fall, the Bears outreach program contacted the OPRF girl’s flag football program, asking if there were any singers on the team to audition to sing the national anthem. Sherman, varsity flag football player, worked with her mom to record a video audition.
Sherman figured she hadn’t been selected; then, a month later, the team reached out to tell Sherman she would be performing before the game.
At first, Sherman was “super-duper excited,” she said. But then she thought about what it would mean to actually perform the national anthem. “I would say I’m a patriotic person, but I’m not patriotic for how the world and America is right now,” said Sherman. “What do I do?” she wondered.
“And so I decided, if I’m going to be doing something that I don’t 100% stand with, I need to do something that I can [be happy] with. So I wore a Palestinian flag necklace. And I also wore a little gay rights pin. Because that’s me. And if you want me to do this, I’m gonna be myself and stand for what I believe in.”
The day of the performance, Sherman and her parents arrived at the stadium before the game. She rehearsed the anthem on the field twice, practiced vocal warm-ups in the locker room and then stood outside as people filed into the stadium. The Bears were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers, and every ticket was sold out.
When it came time for the performance, “I was really excited,” said Sherman. “I was like, ‘This is my moment.’ I was really, really excited”
All Sherman could see was the blaring sun and the camera. It felt “unreal.” Sherman said that during the performance, she wasn’t nervous at all. “In my head, I was just like, it’s time.” Sherman remembered every cue, and her voice stayed clear throughout the song. The performance ended up going “really well,” said Sherman, and walking away she felt proud of herself.
“It was such a cool, beautiful opportunity. Everyone was so supportive,” she said.
Singing the national anthem, especially at a time like this, “meant a lot” to Sherman, she said. “I was able to wear the Palestinian necklace, and I was able to wear the gay rights pin, and say, ‘Even though I don’t support our government right now, I’m still here,’” said Sherman. “I feel like I represent the people, not the government…It was a really, really proud moment.”
