PHOENIX — Editor's note: The video at the top of this article originally aired on November 11, 2020.
Before the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks faced off in Game 4 of the 2023 World Series on Tuesday night, another Arlington-sprung star took center stage on the field.
Grammy-nominated North Texas native Mickey Guyton was tapped to sing the national anthem in advance of the game's first pitch at 7:03 p.m. CT on Tuesday.
It was not Guyton's first rodeo when it comes to anthem-singing before major sporting events. She did the same before kickoff in the 2022 Super Bowl -- and turned in a very powerful rendition in doing so.
Here's what she sounded like this time around:
Country singer Guyton, 40, broke through into the mainstream with the success of her hit "Black Like Me" single, which was released amidst the social unrest following George Floyd's murder. That track lyrically touched upon the difficulties Guyton has faced as a Black musician in the historically white-dominated country music landscape.
As Guyton told WFAA in 2020 following that song's success, she found her footing as a performer once she started trusting her own voice.
"Country music is three chords and the truth," Guyton said. "I was writing everybody else's song, and I wasn't writing my song."
These days, Guyton said, she embraces her differences -- and the representation she knows that performances of hers like Tuesday's can provide young musicians who look like her.
"[I'm] fighting for that little Black girl that wants to sing country music that doesn’t have opportunities, and doesn't think she can ever sing country music," Guyton said. "I am that vessel. I am the door for her to walk through for her to get her opportunities."