Who Is Ebony Riley? 35-Year-Old Singer to Perform NFL Pro Bowl 2026 National Anthem

The NFL Pro Bowl Games 2026 are set to kick off on February 3 at 8 PM, and fans worldwide can watch the event live on ESPN, Disney XD, ESPN Deportes, the ESPN App, and on mobile via NFL+. The festivities will begin with the national anthem, performed by renowned singer and model Ebony Riley. The Pro Bowl Games, part of Super Bowl week in the Bay Area, promise a blend of entertainment, skill competitions, and a 7-on-7 flag football game featuring AFC and NFC stars.

Who is Ebony Riley?

Ebony Riley, born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Southfield, Michigan, is a celebrated American model and singer. Before entering the entertainment industry, she earned a nursing degree and worked at Sprint in Los Angeles. Riley began her modeling career in October 2013, signing with New York Models and appearing in campaigns such as Givenchy.

Ebony Riley’s journey from modeling to music

Despite her modeling success, Riley felt unfulfilled and battled depression, turning to music—her first true passion—for solace. She shared: “When I started modeling I still didn’t feel fully fulfilled. My life changed but I found myself in a slight depression. Music was my true first love. From 2015 I slowly started trying to go to studios and do music, but it wasn’t really translating because everybody I worked with, they still were trying to make me talk about model stuff, where I was like, ‘That’s not the core of me. That’s not who I am. That’s not my story.'”

In 2018, Riley assembled her core team and began focusing fully on her music career. By 2019, she had recorded her EP and secretly signed with Interscope, eventually releasing her work in February 2020 during the pandemic. She explained: “I kept modeling. I was doing the job that I was blessed to be able to do. In 2018 I met the core of my team that I’m working with now and I started working on the music. 2018, 2019 I recorded my EP, and secretly signed my deal with Interscope. I feel like it was the beginning of 2020, right in the midst of the pandemic, and then finished the album. I didn’t really talk about it to anybody, because I wanted to just put the work in and let it show for itself when it was time. I dropped in February.”

Riley’s national anthem performance at the Pro Bowl Games will be a milestone moment in her career. Growing up in Detroit, she sang in church choirs before rising to prominence as a fashion model and eventually a singing diva. Her appearance at the NFL Pro Bowl underscores the league’s focus on personality, entertainment, and skill-based competitions, offering millions of viewers a memorable kickoff to the 2026 games.