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Renée Fleming, America's Go-To Diva, To Sing At McCain Memorial In Washington

Renée Fleming, photographed singing the national anthem during Super Bowl XLVIII, will sing at the memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain at Washington's National Cathedral.
Rob Carr
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Renée Fleming, photographed singing the national anthem during Super Bowl XLVIII, will sing at the memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain at Washington's National Cathedral.

Renée Fleming is becoming America's go-to singer. The celebrated soprano, who has performed at a broad range of high-profile events off the opera stage, is scheduled to sing at Senator John McCain's memorial service this Saturday at Washington's National Cathedral.

Fleming is slated to sing the Irish standard "Danny Boy" — at McCain's request — alongside tributes to the late Senator by Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and a homily by Bay Area Catholic leader Father Edward A. Reese.

Often described as "America's Diva," Fleming has lent her distinctive, silvery voice in times of grief, pomp and comedy, raising her profile among audiences who know little about opera.

Fleming performed at the Concert for America, marking the first anniversary of 9-11. In 2014, Fleming sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XLVIII. She has performed on Sesame Street, A Prairie Home Companion and, memorably, on The Tonight Show with David Letterman, where she sang the Top Ten List. She's sung at Buckingham Palace and at President Obama's Inaugural Celebration concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

Fleming, who is scaling back portions of her operatic schedule, will release a new album, titled Broadway, next week.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tom Huizenga is a producer for NPR Music. He contributes a wide range of stories about classical music to NPR's news programs and is the classical music reviewer for All Things Considered. He appears regularly on NPR Music podcasts and founded NPR's classical music blog Deceptive Cadence in 2010.