ESPN announces new Shaboozey track 'High Noon' featuring Gunna as 2026-27 college football season anthem

· High Noon is off Shaboozey's new concept album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales

· Previous anthem artists include mgk, Jelly Roll, Post Malone, Imagine Dragons and Marshmello, among others

College football is less than 30 days away, but the unofficial start to the season has arrived with ESPN officially naming GRAMMY(R)-winning, singer-songwriter Shaboozey its newest anthem artist.

'High Noon' featuring rapper Gunna is the 2026-27 ESPN College Football season anthem song, a track that dropped at midnight ET off Shaboozey's new concept album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales."

"It's so exciting to have 'High Noon' as the anthem for this upcoming college football season on ESPN," Shaboozey said. "I'm excited for the song to be part of the energy, tradition, and memories of game day."

ESPN has collaborated with musical artists for the past 13 years to create an anthem that drives excitement and awareness around ESPN's comprehensive college football coverage. Last year featured GRAMMY-nominated multi-platinum recording artist mgk and the track, 'don't wait run fast' off his latest album, 'lost in americana'.

Other cover artists over the years include: Jelly Roll, Post Malone, Fall Out Boy, Lauren Alaina, X Ambassadors, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Imagine Dragons, Judah & the Lion, Juice WRLD & Marshmello, DJ Snake & Rick Ross, and Yungblud.

Said Maggie Lewin, director of marketing at ESPN: "ESPN is the home of college football, and our annual music anthem has become a signature part of how fans welcome the season. It has grown into a tradition of its own, a signal college football is back and it sets the tone for everything fans love about the sport. We are extremely excited to collab with both Shaboozey and Gunna and welcome them into this seasonal tradition."

ESPN kicks off its industry-leading coverage of the 2026-27 college football season at high noon for a battle overseas with the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland as Bill Belichick's North Carolina Tar Heels face No. 23 TCU (Noon, ESPN). The early weeks of the season feature a coast-to-coast lineup that delivers marquee matchups, top-ranked teams - including 20 of ESPN.com's Way-Too-Early Top 25 - and premier presentations across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN+, SEC Network+ and ACCNX. Overall, more than 1,000 games will be set for ESPN networks with every showdown streaming on the ESPN App throughout the season.

Follow @CollegeGameDay and @ESPNCFB on social media for more updates throughout the entire college football season.

-30-

All of ESPN. All in One Place.

ESPN offers its full suite of networks and services directly to fans on the ESPN App with an ESPN Unlimited subscription, providing more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, including more than 47,000 live events per year, on-demand replays, industry-leading studio shows and original programming, and more. The ESPN App gives fans a unique viewing experience that includes multiview and synchronized two-screen viewing options, swipe-able shortform vertical video and a personalized SportsCenter For You, as well as integrated game stats, ESPN Fantasy sports, betting odds and information from DraftKings, sports merchandise, and more. These features are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a pay TV package from certain providers. Bundling options available for fans include a Disney+, Hulu, ESPN offering that provides a one-of-a-kind streaming package combining sports with branded and general entertainment. For more visit stream.espn.com.

About Shaboozey

GRAMMY(R) winning singer-songwriter Shaboozey is building his own world, carving his lane in the alternative country and hip-hop space. Born to parents of Nigerian descent and raised in the small town of Woodbridge, VA, the multi-faceted artist grew up on an eclectic mix of music encompassing classic hip-hop and R&B, country and blues icons like Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, and Lead Belly, to master lyricists, such as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. A true crossover artist, he began his epic rise to stardom with two standout features on Beyoncé's COWBOY CARTER - the only artist with multiple appearances on the album. His latest body of work, the critically acclaimed masterpiece Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going, debuted in the top five of the Billboard 200 and was praised by The New York Times for "bring[ing] hip-hop grit to country" and by Rolling Stone for "honoring country tradition and moving it forward." The album's breakthrough anthem, the RIAA-Diamond certified "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," broke the record for the longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1 while also topping Billboard's Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay Chart, and Mediabase/Country Aircheck charts. The single has accumulated over two billion streams across DSPs and made history, making Shaboozey the first Black male artist to simultaneously top Billboard's Hot Country Songs and Hot 100. In conjunction with the release, Shaboozey received major critical recognition and a wide array of nominations at the GRAMMY Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, Country Music Association Awards, iHeartRadio Music Awards, and MTV Video Music Awards, along with wins at the Billboard Music Awards and People's Choice Country Awards, and recognition from ASCAP as their 2025 Country Music Songwriter/Artist of the Year. An 8X GRAMMY(R) nominee, Shaboozey won his first Grammy Award in 2026 for "Best Country/Duo Group Performance" for his collaboration with Jelly Roll, "Amen." Continuing to raise the bar with each release, his follow-up single "Good News" earned Shaboozey his second #1 on Billboard's Country Airplay Chart. Most recently, his GRAMMY-winning collaboration with Jelly Roll, "Amen," also topped Billboard's Country Airplay Chart with a rare multi-week No. 1. Staying true to his Virginian roots, Shaboozey strives to continue the region's long-standing tradition of prolific creativity, this time by expanding the scope of contemporary hip-hop and introducing modern Americana to a global audience. His 2024 debut headline Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going tour sold out in every market and he played arenas nationwide as part of Jelly Roll's Beautifully Broken tour this past winter. His highly successful 2025 The Great American Roadshow tour wrapped this past fall. He's currently in the studio working on new music, gearing up for an even more momentous 2026.