Seattle Reign unveiled a new walk-out anthem titled “Stand Up”, written and performed by local Black, blind, queer artist Brittany Davis with backing vocals provided by Reign players and Reign Academy players, as well as percussion and instrumentation by members of the Royal Guard supporters group, Reign City Riot and Sound Wave. In conjunction, the team also released a short documentary film by Jason Bergh, which chronicles the journey from initial spark to final song through conversations with Davis about her inspiration, interspersed by conversations with current Reign players about the themes of the song and clips of the recording process.
“Sport and music unite us. Brittany Davis’ creation is more than just a song – it’s an anthem for a feeling, born of Seattle's rich history and crafted with our players and fans to launch a new matchday tradition and era for our club,” said Reign Chief Revenue Officer Courtney Carter in a team release. “Through Jason Bergh’s lens, we witness Brittany translate our club’s energy and legacy into music. Her call for ‘stand up energy, champion energy,’ invites us to celebrate together, reminding us that, united, we win both on and off the field.”
Davis and her band performed at halftime of R15E, the match in August 2024 where Megan Rapinoe’s iconic legacy was honored and her 15 jersey was retired. Davis described being deeply moved by her experience at the game and feeling of community surrounding the match. That performance included a cover of Andra Day’s song “Rise Up”. The club initially approached her about creating an upbeat reimagining of Rise Up as a new club anthem, but Davis felt so inspired that she wanted to create something fresh and new to fully celebrate the club’s identity, unity and resilience.
Stand Up will be played during the player procession before every home game, and the Royal Guard is aiming to make several parts of it interactive to help energize the crowd and further deepen the connection between the fans and players – a collective singing of the “STAND UP” and “RISE UP” lines, and a call-and-response during the “Everywhere we go” section.
A select group of fans got a sneak preview of the anthem and film last Friday, which also featured a panel discussion with Davis, Bergh and Reign defender Ryanne Brown, one of the players to provide backing vocals for the track, along with Hanna Glas, Ana-Maria Crnogorčević and Angharad James-Turner. The panel discussed the idea of champion energy, which they described as that feeling of digging deep, pushing on, and doing the extra work even when it’s tough.
"One of the greatest joys I had in this process was actually creating and collaborating with these other players, The Royal Guard, Reign City Riot, the Sound Wave – all the voices from the young players to the veteran players, just feeling all of their energy around me is so important,” said Davis in a team release. “I wanted to be there when they record. I wanted to be in their presence, and I want them to know how much it means to me to have their voices be a part of the song."
Bergh, whose past credits include production and directing work for names such as Jennifer Lopez, ESPN, Netflix and Vogue, told the audience he felt drawn to the project because of how it connected with his focus on the intersection of music, sport, and culture. In addition to clips of Davis at work in her recording studio and with players at training, the film features conversations as they travel around the city, showing day-to-day life and scenes, as a reminder that this is the city’s club and the city is so much more than just some cliched landmarks.
"Seattle is a beautiful city filled with a lot of incredible folks…. Having the opportunity to be in the studio with Brittany and seeing her process and how she works was mesmerizing – the way she makes music with her mind and her hands through the computer without any vision was absolutely beautiful. I was just blown away,” said Bergh. “Sports and music, they shake each other's hand all day – they're both forms of art that tell transformational stories.”
