Star-Studded Performances by Tim McGraw, Meghan Trainor, H.E.R., Bastille, Nas, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Judah & the Lion, and MAX Highlight Weekend of Free Concerts

National Anthem to be Performed by Lauren Daigle Prior to 2020 CFP National Championship

NEW ORLEANS – The College Football Playoff (CFP) today announced a lineup of multi-platinum national recording artists that will perform at AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! (January 11-12) and the Capital One Stage at Allstate Championship Tailgate Plaza (January 13). The free concerts will take place in New Orleans' Woldenberg Park leading up to the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship, set for Monday, January 13, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

All told, the announced acts have sold nearly 120 million records worldwide and represent eclectic musical influences, including pop, rap, R&B, rock, country and New Orleans-inspired jazz. For the first time in the six-year history of the College Football Playoff National Championship, three of the weekend's musical acts hail from the host region. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue are set to take the stage at AT&T Playoff Playlist Live!, Tim McGraw will headline the Capital One Stage at Allstate Championship Plaza, and Lauren Daigle will perform the national anthem prior to kickoff of the national championship game.

The fun starts on Saturday, January 11, with the opening of Allstate Championship Tailgate Plaza, the gathering place for fans who want to experience extreme tailgating throughout the College Football Playoff National Championship weekend. Located at Jax Brewery Lot/Woldenberg Park, the location will also serve as ESPN's New Orleans home for its live broadcasts.

The weekend's initial needle-drop takes place on the AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! stage on Saturday, January 11 with performances by two-time Grammy Winner H.E.R., rap icon Nas and multi-platinum Sony recording artist, MAX. The music continues Sunday, January 12, with chart-topping superstar Meghan Trainor, British Indie Pop favorites Bastille and Rolling Stone "must see act," Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Gates for AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! will open at 4 p.m. CT each day, and fans will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. Tune-in to watch the live stream performances online via AT&T Twitter.

On Monday, January 13, the stage will be transformed into the Capital One Stage at Allstate Championship Tailgate Plaza. Tim McGraw, one of the best-selling artists in music history, will perform along with iHeart award-winning alt-rock band, Judah & the Lion. Gates will open at Noon CT.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is slated to be performed by Lauren Daigle prior to kickoff of the CFP National Championship on Monday, January 13 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. In advance of Daigle's performance, the nation's colors will be presented by the NAS JRB Joint Color Guard Team New Orleans, including members of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. As part of the CFP's salute to the armed forces, the national anthem ceremony will include a live feed from U.S. troops stationed overseas watching the national championship game. Continuing a CFP tradition, drummers from the participating team bands will play side-by-side as the color guard is introduced.

The 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship will take place on Monday, January 13 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT). The game will air live on ESPN.

For additional information on the College Football Playoff, including AT&T Playoff Playlist Live!, Allstate Championship Tailgate Plaza and the 2020 CFP National Championship, visit collegefootballplayoff.com. Join the social conversation by using the hashtags #CFBPlayoff, #ATTPlayoffPlaylist and #ChampTailgate.
 
About the College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 ranked team vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual. This season's Playoff Semifinals will take place Saturday, December 28, 2019, at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be Monday, January 13, 2020, at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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TIM McGRAW
Tim McGraw has sold more than 50 million records worldwide, earning 43 No. 1 singles. He has won three Grammy Awards, 16 Academy of Country Music Awards and 14 Country Music Association Awards. McGraw's career achievements include being named BDS Radio's Most Played Artist of the Decade for all music genres and having the Most Played Song of the Decade for all music genres. Since his debut in 1992, he is the most played country artist on the airwaves, with two singles having spent over 10 weeks at No. 1. He also has three New York Times bestselling books to his credit and has acted in such movies as Friday Night Lights and The Blind Side. Considered one of the most successful touring acts in the history of country music, McGraw's last solo project spawned one of the biggest hit singles of all time, "Humble and Kind," whose message continues to impact fans around the world.

MEGHAN TRAINOR
Meghan Trainor first made history in 2014 with her diamond-certified smash single "All About That Bass." The GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist is "one of only five female artists to achieve a diamond certification from the RIAA"—an honor bestowed upon only 15 other singles to date. Thus far, she has garnered a GRAMMY® Award and achieved eight multi-platinum singles and two platinum albums, sold out three world tours, penned multi-platinum hits for peers across pop and country, and received countless industry awards and nominations. Following 2018 anthems "No Excuses" and "Let You Be Right," she celebrated Valentine's Day 2019 with the love-themed six-song The Love Train EP and to kick off the summer, she collaborated with dance music titan, Kaskade, for their song "With You." Now, Trainor marks the impending arrival of her third full-length album, Treat Myself (Epic Records) coming January 31, 2020 with her new single, "Wave" featuring Mike Sabath.

H.E.R.
In 2018, Grammys.com reported "the musical sensation is changing how we hear – and feel – music with her talent, vision and mystique." H.E.R. has proven them right in 2019, earning Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album (H.E.R.) and Best R&B Performance ("Best Part" featuring Daniel Caesar). With over two billion combined streams to date, the release of the breakthrough H.E.R. and the recent release of I Used To Know Her and the track "Slide" (featuring YG), singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist H.E.R. has firmly established herself as one of modern music's most fascinating new voices. After captivating audiences on the 2019 Grammy Awards, Video Music Awards, TODAY Show, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and 2019 Global Citizen Festival, plus her own sold-out tours, the future is bright for this young star. In fact, according to Elle magazine, "H.E.R. is more than a rising star – she's a damn galaxy."

NAS
Since his Illmatic debut in 1994, hip hop heavyweight Nas has long been considered one of the most influential and talented MCs to ever hold a mic. Racking up 11 albums in the Billboard Top 10, 6 debuting at No. 1, 13 Grammy nominations, eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums, and over 30 millions records sold worldwide, Nas' catalogue speaks for itself. Most recently, he released the fourth of five Kanye West-produced projects, NASIR. Nas has been engaging in far more than music in the six years following his last full-length solo record Life Is Good (2012), including heavily supporting UNICEF and the East African region known as the Horn of Africa. These efforts have been recognized by Harvard, establishing the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship in 2013 and awarding Nas the W.E.B. DuBois Medal in 2015. Nas has ascended rap and become more than the music he continues to create.

BASTILLE
Bastille have become a global phenomenon since forming in 2011. Their No.1 debut album Bad Blood, featuring the hit "Pompeii," was the biggest-selling digital album of 2013 with over one billion Spotify streams, earning two Grammy nominations. Sophomore album Wild World scored a No. 1 in the UK and Top 5 in the U.S with lead single "Good Grief" achieving the most week-one streams ever for an alternative single. In 2018, the band collaborated with Marshmello on "Happier," topping charts around the world, and achieving 5x Platinum certification in the U.S. Bastille's current album, Doom Days, has received huge critical acclaim and charted in the Top 5 in the UK and U.S. The group continues to cement its reputation as one of the world's most captivating live bands, having just completed an extensive two-month long U.S tour.

MAX
2019 iHeart Best New Pop Artist nominee, MAX has been labeled by Billboard as a top pop star to watch and a "Young Pop-God" by GQ. The multi-hyphenate artist, actor and dancer has toured the world, has been featured in a Dolce and Gabbana campaign with Madonna, and has starred in critically-acclaimed films and television shows. His breakout 2016 album, Hell's Kitchen Angel, yielded the hit-single "Lights Down Low," reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, generating half a billion streams and earning double-platinum certification. MAX has performed his newest hit, "Love Me Less" (feat. Quinn XCII) on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Live with Kelly & Ryan, and The Today Show. The single has reached the top 20 at Top 40 Radio, with over 100 million streams to date. With his sophomore album, House of Divine, on the way and another world tour in the works, 2020 looks to be a huge year for MAX.

TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE
Part Jimi Hendrix, part James Brown and all New Orleans, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is the bandleader and frontman of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. He has gained international acclaim for his trombone and trumpet virtuosity, his songwriting and his ability to blend traditional New Orleans styles with rock, funk, soul and hip-hop. NPR hailed him as "New Orleans' brightest new star in a generation" and his 2017 album, Parking Lot Symphony, was released on the legendary Blue Note label. A 2011 GRAMMY Award nominee for his album Backatown (Verve), Andrews' virtuosity and high-energy live shows have drawn unanimous raves worldwide with Rolling Stone calling him a "must-see act."

JUDAH & THE LION
For Judah & the Lion, the last two years should have been the best of their lives, as the Nashville band toured behind a powerful single and a genre-upending album, playing to oceans of fans. But singer-guitarist Judah Akers' world was falling apart as his family was hit by alcoholism and affairs, death and divorce. From that tension comes Pep Talks, the trio's third LP and a hard left turn into deeply personal terrain. Since forming at Nashville's Belmont University in 2011, the band has crafted its sound from the bluegrass-heavy debut, Kids These Days, to its follow-up, Folk Hop n' Roll. In 2017, Judah & the Lion's triumphant "Take It All Back" topped the alternative songs chart, leading to a Best New Rock/Alternative Artist win at the 2018 iHeartRadio Awards. The group co-produced and recorded Pep Talks over three inspired months with help from boundary-busting friends like Darren King, Jon Bellion, and Kacey Musgraves.

LAUREN DAIGLE
With a voice that is both smoky and sweet, Lauren Daigle has forged a unique sound that is reminiscent of the soulful, heart-in-throat vulnerability of Adele, mixed with the raw power of Amy Winehouse. A whirlwind three-year journey brought the internationally-acclaimed songstress right back to her native Louisiana in 2017. With Look Up Child, Lauren went home and made her most definitive album to date by giving every inch of who she is to each moment. The Grammy Award-winning album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, with the Grammy Award-winning, RIAA Certified Multi-Platinum crossover single, "You Say," hitting No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. Daigle is also a five-time Billboard Music Award winner and two-time American Music Award winner. Her debut album, How Can It Be, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and has produced one Platinum and two certified Gold singles.

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In addition to AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! and the Capital One Stage at Allstate Championship Tailgate Plaza, fans can participate and experience the following in and around Championship Campus, located in downtown New Orleans:

Playoff Fan Central
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Saturday, January 11 – Monday, January 13, 2020
(Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Monday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. CT)
Playoff Fan Central is a 200,000 square-foot interactive experience that gives thousands of fans the opportunity to be a part of the College Football Playoff National Championship. The three-day, family-friendly event will include games, clinics, pep rallies, band performances, special guest appearances, autograph signings and exhibits celebrating college football and its history. Playoff Fan Central creates memories that last a lifetime.

Media Day
Xavier University of Louisiana Convocation Center
Saturday, January 11, 2020 (8:30-11 a.m. CT)
Media Day features one-hour sessions with student-athletes and coaches from each of the College Football Playoff National Championship participating teams. Over 1,000 credentialed media members will be present to cover the event, in addition to live broadcasts from ESPN and conference networks and activations by social media giants Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Media Day is free and open to the public. Fans are invited to watch and will be provided with a complimentary small radio to listen in as student-athletes and coaches are interviewed by the participating media.

Extra Yard 5K
Lafayette Square (S. Maestri Place)
Sunday, January 12, 2020 (8 a.m. CT)
The Extra Yard 5K is a family-friendly run/walk in conjunction with College Football Playoff. Awards will be given to the top three finishers in each age group. In addition, the Top Overall Male and Top Overall Female will each win two tickets to the 2020 CFP National Championship. Registration includes a participant shirt, a finisher's medal, a race bib, and one entry into a drawing to win two tickets to the national championship game. All proceeds benefit Extra Yard for Teachers.

Eckrich Taste of the Championship presented by Thrillist
Mardi Gras World
Sunday, January 12, 2020 (7-10 p.m. CT)
The Eckrich Taste of the Championship presented by Thrillist is a premium dining experience and fundraising event on the eve of the national championship game, offering local residents and national championship game attendees the opportunity to sample gourmet food and drink from New Orleans chefs in support of the CFP Foundation. The 2020 edition of this premium event serves as a unique combination of an exploration of local cuisine and a celebration of the teaching profession. All proceeds benefit the CFP Foundation's Extra Yard for Teachers initiative.