Carey to sing national anthem at Daytona

CONCORD, N.C. -- Grammy Award-winning artist Mariah Carey, the largest-selling female pop artist of all time, will sing the national anthem prior to the 45th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16.

"I'm just so excited about it, totally psyched," Carey said Thursday on a conference call with the national motorsports media. "I've been looking forward to it forever.

	Mariah Carey

"My father used to race cars and when I heard about this, when we got the call to do this, I thought it was the perfect time. My father passed away this past year and we had a conversation about what (racing) meant to him. I'm just honored to be a part of this."

During her illustrious career, Carey has recorded an astounding 15 No. 1 singles, garnered two Grammy Awards and has surpassed the Beatles as the artist with the most cumulative weeks spent atop Billboard's "Hot 100 Singles" chart.

In addition, she is the only artist to top the charts each year of the 1990s with such hits as "Vision of Love," "My All," "Dreamlover," "Honey," and "Heartbreaker." Her new album "Charmbracelet," released in December, is topping charts around the world and reached No. 1 on the R&B charts.

Hence, she's used to attention. But 200,000-plus people surrounding her on race day?

"I've been places where there's 200,000 people circled around me, but it was at a concert," she said, laughing. "Not something like this. I've also been to car races before, but not since I was a little girl and never anything of this magnitude. So I'm looking forward to it."

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Carey's only other experience with singing the Star-Spangled Banner came last year at the Super Bowl.

"I've only done the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, which was last year," she said. "That was an amazing experience for me. It's a very powerful song to sing, first of all, and with the state of the world and things like that ... it was right after 9/11, so it was very important to me."

Though admittedly not overly educated about NASCAR, Carey is obviously thrilled at the opportunity. She is just the latest worldwide celebrity to collaborate with NASCAR. Last year the likes of Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, Pamela Anderson, Angie Harmon and Tom Ridge showed up at various tracks.

Needless to say, NASCAR is growing more and more mainstream with each passing year.

"We're thrilled to have this superstar join us for the 'Great American Race'," said Speedway President Robin Braig. "We're honored to have Mariah. I know her incredible voice will stir the hearts of our guests and our competitors."

In May 2002, the Long Island, N.Y., native signed an exclusive recording contract with the Universal Music Group's Island Records. She formed her own label, MonarC Music, which released its first studio album this year with "Charmbracelet".

Carey will perform for an audience of millions on Feb. 16. The 2002 Daytona 500 was the most watched motorsports event in the world when on-site attendance and television viewing households are combined. The Daytona 500's estimated attendance in 2002 was 200,000 with a television rating of 10.9, 26 share, equal to 11,551,000 households.

"It's an incredible opportunity, because it is such an exciting sport," Carey said. "Mainly to be performing the Star spangled banner, because at this time it's important to keep that spirit alive.

"It's something I think people in our country really do want to hear it sung from the heart. It is an exciting moment. Almost emotional. It makes you feel really proud."

The 2003 Daytona 500 will be broadcast live on FOX.