Photo by Khaelyn Jackson.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl is proud to present a national anthem performer that is a natural for performing the Star-Spangled Banner at the annual college football game. Tonight’s national anthem will be performed by a New Orleans native who is a great example of the tremendous musical talent in the city. In addition, tonight’s singer is a former football player. More importantly, Samyra Miller is an inspiring woman who has established herself at a young age as an effective motivator whose primary goal is to empower others – with her singing and with her drive.
“If I had to describe myself, I would say unstoppable,” Samyra said. “One thing about me is if people tell me I can’t do something, then I’m going to do it and do it ten-fold. I always want to make sure that people feel empowered for themselves to also feel like they’re unstoppable. Regardless of what they look like, what they’d been told in the past, or where they’re from, I want everyone to know they’re unstoppable.”
Samyra’s father, Bobby Miller, played football at LSU and was also regularly singing around the house. So it was a natural that both things came together for her. She first sang the national anthem in a third-grade music class, but she truly embraced her vocal talent in 2006 when her family was displaced in Texas due to Hurricane Katrina. The first grader performed “Start of Something New” from High School Musical in the school’s talent show.
“I was timid and shy, but I was like, ‘Wow I can really do this!” And it was an appropriate song because it really was the start of something new for me.”
Upon their return to New Orleans, Samyra and her older sister Nyjah were regular performers of the national anthem at Lusher High School (now The Willow School) sporting events. But in an added twist, she was a defensive tackle on the school’s football team.
“The cool party trick was I would sing the anthem, then come out of the booth with my shoulder pads and helmet and go right onto the field for the game,” she said.
“She was always confident in who she was as an individual,” her football coach Louis Landrum said. “That translated even on the field. She truthfully wanted to play, and she got out there and she did what she had to do. She was just as persistent on the field with her work ethic as she was in the classroom and in theater. She was what you call your All-American girl.”
Her relentless drive to succeed in football and in singing has shined through in all aspects of her life. She served as the student body president and was selected as the Student of the Year for Orleans Parish schools before attending Harvard, earning her degree in sociology and educational studies in 2021.
“I’ve always been so focused on being who I am and I’m so proud that being authentically myself and never compromising or dimming my light, it has gotten me so far, that’s my biggest accomplishment,” she said.
She trained in singing for nine years, learning to sing operatically, but now she says she sings whatever and however she wants. Though the national anthem in the Superdome is a unique challenge.
“My biggest thing is that the ’Dome is not only a space for football, it’s such a large symbol for New Orleans,” she said. “I always feel pressure to not let the city down. Fans who’ve seen me before can expect something a little different this time. I like to spice it up, always do one thing a little different, with a little twist.”
Samyra has become a highly respected and extremely influential voice for size inclusivity and fashion. She has over two million followers on Tik Tok and nearly half a million on Instagram. And the 26-year-old is just getting started.
“I hope to have my own clothing line that is size inclusive where fashion is truly made for everyone,” she said. “I want to have my own fashion brand, I want to be a recording artist, I want to win Grammys, I want to sell out arenas and stadiums. Fans will see me at the Sugar Bowl and maybe down the road, they’ll see me at the Super Bowl! I have big dreams for myself. I’ve always been a big dreamer.”
