O say can you see...
The most watched rendition of the national anthem is performed each year at the Super Bowl, with 80,000 people in attendance and over 100 million more viewing and listening from afar.
It's the grandest stage of all, for the players set to take the field, and for the artist set to take the mic. The performance is as anticipated, and as scrutinized, as the game itself.
Someone at your Super Bowl party will invariably ask who is singing the anthem. This year it's Jon Batiste.
Bettors will wager on the length of the performance time. In recent years, it's often been over two minutes.
Critics will analyze the singer's pitch, pace and patriotism – so don't mess up the lyrics with the world watching. One year, it happened.
Let's look back at that infamous rendition and other fun facts about the Super Bowl national anthem...
Who sang the national anthem at the first Super Bowl?
The first Super Bowl national anthem in 1967 was performed by The Pride of Arizona, Michigan Marching Band and UCLA Choir.
What was the best Super Bowl national anthem?
Whitney Houston's 1991 rendition during the Gulf War is widely regarded as the best national anthem performance of all time. It was later confirmed by her musical director that Houston was lip-synching to a version of the song she had pre-recorded, ABC News wrote in a story titled “Whitney Houston's Star-Spangled Secret.”
What was the longest national anthem at the Super Bowl?
The longest Super Bowl national anthem was sung by Alicia Keys, whose 2013 rendition was two minutes and 36 seconds. That topped the previous record set in 1994 by Natalie Cole of two minutes and 33 seconds.
How long was last year's national anthem at the Super Bowl?
Country singer Reba McEntire clocked in at about one minute and 36 seconds during her performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl LVIII in 2024.
Who has sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl the most?
Sing us an anthem, you're the Piano Man. Billy Joel is the only solo performer to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl more than once, doing so in 1989 and 2007.
Aaron Neville also sang the national anthem twice, doing so solo in 1990 and with Aretha Franklin in 2006.
Has anyone messed up the lyrics to the national anthem at the Super Bowl?
Christina Aguilera's rendition of the Super Bowl national anthem arguably is the most infamous after she mixed up some of the lyrics. She turned "O'er the ramparts we watched" into what sounded like "What so proudly we washed." But she sounded great doing it.
Super Bowl national anthem singers, history and fun facts
Here are some other fun facts about the history of the national anthem at the Super Bowl.
1. The national anthem has been performed at every Super Bowl except for one. In place of the 1977 anthem, Vikki Carr sang "America the Beautiful."
2. The first Grammy Award winner to perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl was Charley Pride in 1974. Pride was a three-time Grammy winner who was first awarded in 1971 for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
3. The first pop singer to perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl was Diana Ross in 1982.
4. Barry Manilow became the first male pop singer to perform the Super Bowl national anthem in 1984.
5. There have been three Super Bowl national anthem performing artists who go by one name: Cher, Jewel and Pink.
6. The Super Bowl national anthem has been performed on trumpet on five occasions (Lloyd Geisler in 1969, Doc Severinsen in 1970, Tommy Loy in 1971, Wynton Marsalis in 1986, Herb Alpert in 1988).
7. Actor Pat O'Brien -- who portrayed famed Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne in a biographical film that also starred future President Ronald Reagan -- spoke the national anthem while accompanied by trumpet at the Super Bowl in 1970.
8. Cheryl Ladd -- an actor on "Charlie's Angels" -- sang the 1980 Super Bowl national anthem.
9. Who better to sing the national anthem than an American Idol? Four stars from the singing competition show have performed the song at the Super Bowl: Jordin Sparks (2008), Jennifer Hudson (2009), Carrie Underwood (2010) and Kelly Clarkson (2012).
10. Oscar winner Marlee Matlin has served as the American Sign Language (ASL) performer for the Super Bowl national anthem on three occasions.
11. Former TODAY show host Kathie Lee Gifford performed the 1995 Super Bowl National Anthem. Her husband, former NFL player Frank Gifford, was an analyst for the broadcast of the game.
12. The Backstreet Boys in 2001 were the first pop group to sing the Super Bowl national anthem. The Dixie Chicks in 2003 became the first female group to do so.
13. Neil Diamond's 1987 performance is the shortest rendition of the Super Bowl national anthem at one minute and two seconds.
14. Excluding marching bands, choirs and instrumentalists, there have been 31 solo, duet or group female performers to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. There have been 15 solo, duet or group male performers.
15. Here’s the full list of Super Bowl national anthem performances in reverse chronological order…
- Super Bowl LIX: Jon Batiste
- Super Bowl LVIII: Reba McEntire
- Super Bowl LVII: Chris Stapleton
- Super Bowl LVI: Mickey Guyton
- Super Bowl LV: Eric Church, Jazmine Sullivan
- Super Bowl LIV: Demi Lovato
- Super Bowl LIII: Gladys Knight
- Super Bowl LII: P!nk
- Super Bowl LI: Luke Bryan
- Super Bowl 50: Lady Gaga
- Super Bowl XLIX: Idina Menzel
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Renee Fleming
- Super Bowl XLVII: Alicia Keys
- Super Bowl XLVI: Kelly Clarkson
- Super Bowl XLV: Christina Aguilera
- Super Bowl XLIV: Carrie Underwood
- Super Bowl XLIII: Jennifer Hudson:
- Super Bowl XLII: Jordin Sparks
- Super Bowl XLI: Billy Joel
- Super Bowl XL: Aaron Neville, Aretha Franklin
- Super Bowl XXXIX: Combined choirs of the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets
- Super Bowl XXXVIII: Beyonce
- Super Bowl XXXVII: Dixie Chicks
- Super Bowl XXXVI: Mariah Carey
- Super Bowl XXXV: The Backstreet Boys
- Super Bowl XXXIV: Faith Hill
- Super Bowl XXXIII: Cher
- Super Bowl XXXII: Jewel
- Super Bowl XXXI: Luther Vandross
- Super Bowl XXX: Vanessa Williams
- Super Bowl XXIX: Kathie Lee Gifford
- Super Bowl XXVIII: Natalie Cole
- Super Bowl XXVII: Garth Brooks
- Super Bowl XXVI: Harry Connick Jr.
- Super Bowl XXV: Whitney Houston, Florida Orchestra
- Super Bowl XXIV: Aaron Neville
- Super Bowl XXIII: Billy Joel
- Super Bowl XXII: Herb Alpert (trumpet)
- Super Bowl XXI: Neil Diamond
- Super Bowl XX: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)
- Super Bowl XIX: San Francisco Boys Chorus, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Piedmont Children’s Chorus, San Francisco Children’s Chorus
- Super Bowl XVIII: Barry Manilow
- Super Bowl XVII: Leslie Easterbrook
- Super Bowl XVI: Diana Ross
- Super Bowl XV: Helen O’Connell
- Super Bowl XIV: Cheryl Ladd
- Super Bowl XIII: The Colgate Thirteen
- Super Bowl XII: Phyllis Kelly of Northeast Louisiana University
- Super Bowl XI: None. Vikki Carr sang “America the Beautiful”
- Super Bowl X: Tom Sullivan
- Super Bowl IX: New Orleans Chapter of the Society for the Preservation of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America Chorus
- Super Bowl VIII: Charley Pride
- Super Bowl VII: Little Angels of Chicago’s Holy Angels Church (children’s choir)
- Super Bowl VI: U.S. Air Force Academy Chorale
- Super Bowl V: Tommy Loy (trumpet)
- Super Bowl IV: Doc Severinsen, Pat O’Brien and The Southern University Band
- Super Bowl III: Lloyd Geisler of the Washington National Symphony Orchestra (trumpet)
- Super Bowl II: GSU Tiger Marching Band
- Super Bowl I: The Pride of Arizona, Michigan Marching Band and UCLA choir
Even before the teams are determined, fans are paying top dollar to be at the Superdome on Super Bowl Sunday.
