It’s a daunting task that takes place at every major U.S. sporting event: Before any athlete hits the field, a performer sings “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
There have been iconic, inspirational versions of The National Anthem, like Whitney Houston’s soaring rendering at the 1991 Super Bowl, which stands out as the definitive version, followed closely by Lady Gaga’s towering take at the 2016 Super Bowl and Chris Stapleton’s soulful rendition at the 2023 game. There are also ones that didn’t fare as well and show why it can be a risky endeavor for an artist to attempt, such as Fergie’s questionable interpretation at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game or Steven Tyler’s overwrought go at the 2012 AFC Championship. It’s a high-profile, often nerve-wracking assignment that, these days, is immediately lionized or demonized via social media and lives online forever.
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With the NBA Finals, the World Cup and the MLB All-Star Game all occurring within recent weeks, a smorgasbord of popular artists — including soulful pop singer Tori Kelly, multi-platinum country-pop duo Dan+ Shay, powerful country/R&B performer Mickey Guyton, R&B legend Patti LaBelle and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson — have all delivered stirring renditions of The National Anthem.
“Singing the National Anthem at the World Cup was one of the [most] surreal experiences of our entire career,” says Dan + Shay’s Dan Smyers, noting the June 12 World Cup match between the U.S. and Paraguay was the first time they performed the song, despite having been asked previously. Adding to the nerves is the event’s high celebrity quotient. As the pair were singing a cappella, they looked up at the Jumbotron to see Tom Cruise standing with David Beckham and singing along. “I saw them and almost lost it,” Smyers says.
So how do major sporting events find the right match? When looking for a performer, it is no surprise that vocal ability “has got to be at the top of the list,” says Seth Dudowsky, the National Football League’s former head of music who is now executive vp/head of sports and live content at Jesse Collins Entertainment. JCE produces major television events, including entertainment for sporting events like the Super Bowl. “It’s one of the hardest songs there is to sing, and it’s also one [where] artists need to feel confident going in. Depending upon when and where it is, the Anthem is a great way for leagues and events to be able to tie in local representation or memorialize a holiday or anniversary.” For example, JCE picked hometown girl LaBelle to perform at the July 14 game in Philadelphia.
“When we look for a National Anthem singer, whether it’s the Super Bowl or another tentpole like the Draft, we’re looking for an artist who can bring a fresh, authentic perspective to the song while still honoring its tradition. It must feel true to who they are as an artist but also stand up to the magnitude of the moment,” says Tim Tubito, the NFL’s senior director of global event presentation, music & entertainment. “If you look at recent Super Bowl performances — Charlie Puth, Jon Batiste, Reba, Chris Stapleton — each approached it differently, but all delivered something emotional, memorable and distinctly their own.”
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Though there’s no formal list, entertainment execs at major sporting leagues and producers informally trade notes about which artists are particularly strong candidates. For example, “The War and Treaty to me have shown time and time again they’re among the best,” Dudowsky says of the duo who performed the National Anthem at the 2026 Fiesta Bowl and one of the 2023 Thanksgiving NFL games. “They’ve done many different types of arrangements, and they’re a husband-and-wife team with a military background.”
That kind of reputation tends to come up in discussions. “We have strong relationships across sports and entertainment, and there’s a sharing of ideas and best practices around major events. That goes beyond the Anthem; it’s about the full presentation,” says Tubito. “At the same time, we’re always watching. Whether it’s another league, an awards show, or a global event like the World Cup, we’re paying attention to performances that break through. Those moments can absolutely put an artist on the radar.”
While no policy dictates it, the singer is usually a U.S. citizen, which is why powerhouse vocalists like Celine Dion and Michael Bublé — both of whom are Canadian — haven’t taken on the Anthem (though Dion did sing “God Bless America” at the 2003 Super Bowl).
“We generally prefer the performer to be a citizen of the country whose anthem they’re singing because it adds a level of personal connection and authenticity to the performance,” Tubito says.
The knowledge of who’s a proven performer comes in handy when singers are needed on short notice, such as when a best-of-seven playoff series goes beyond four games. This year, during the NBA Finals, Guyton was put on hold for a week and confirmed to sing for Game 5 once Game 4 was over.
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Guyton was a known quantity, having sung the National Anthem at the 2022 Super Bowl and other sporting events. “There is a little bit of a circuit for the Anthem, especially for the big events. [The leagues] so desperately want to make sure that there’s going to be a good performance and there’s not going to be negative headlines,” says Guyton’s manager, Cameo Carlson. “Once you’ve delivered one solid [rendition] at a big event, you’re sort of in the loop on this.”
Similarly, Kelly, who sang the National Anthem at the first game of this year’s NBA Finals on June 3, has a proven track record. She’s performed the anthem at the 2021 Kentucky Derby and at the 2024 Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match. Her manager, Alex Silverman, says the NBA talent coordinators were the ones who approached her.
The National Anthem is notoriously hard to sing, and only a finite number of artists have the chops. “I think what makes it more difficult than people realize is there’s a lot of held notes,” Eric Vetro, vocal coach for Puth, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter, among others, said on Billboard’s On the Record podcast in June. “For someone who’s been on Broadway or grown up with that type of music, holding long notes is all part of it. But most pop songs don’t have a lot of long-held notes, or notes that might have a lot of vibrato in them. ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ the highest notes are held for quite a long time, and that partly makes it difficult.”
There are also other factors, such as dealing with the echo and reverb from the venue and the pressure of performing before a huge crowd that is not there primarily to see you, Vento says.
“As a management company, we would tell 99% of our artists probably to pass on the National Anthem, just because there is usually so little upside and so much potential downside if you don’t do a great job,” says Kevin “Chief” Zaruk, who manages Dan + Shay with Simon Tikhman. “Truthfully, most artists don’t want to do it. It’s just an immense amount of pressure.”
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But the often-global exposure can play into part of a release cycle. Dan + Shay were promoting a new single from a forthcoming album when they did their performance, and Kelly released a new album on June 12, perfect timing given her June 3 performance.
“The goal is always to connect major cultural moments to larger career moments,” Silverman says. “Having Tori perform at the Finals just days before releasing her sixth studio album gave millions of people a reminder of who she is right as we were entering a new chapter of her career, so that was invaluable.”
For Guyton, the method is more a matter of keeping up her visibility through high-profile appearances while she’s between projects. “There isn’t anything specific she’s promoting right now; it’s almost the opposite, where she’s writing right now,” Carlson says. “We like to keep her visible on things that matter to her.”
While an artist’s expenses are covered, pay often varies. Neither the Super Bowl nor the World Cup pays its performers, but those who sing the anthem at the NBA Finals receive a check. However, the true benefit comes through exposure. Performing at a big sporting event almost always yields a spike in sales or attention. Houston’s version was so renowned that it was released as a charity single shortly afterward and sold 750,000 copies in its first eight days, making it Arista Records’ best-selling single.
While most artists aren’t going to see that kind of result, Puth, who sang the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in February, did see his streams jump from 8.9 million the week before his performance to 11.4 million the week after, according to Luminate.
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Carlson says that whenever Guyton gets booked to sing the National Anthem, her management team will purchase an ad campaign to boost streaming for the video of her performance at the 2022 Super Bowl. The timing of the NBA game worked well because patriotic and country songs usually see streaming spikes around the Fourth of July. “This one dovetailed nicely with what streak is already going to happen,” Carlson says.
According to Luminate, Dan + Shay and Tori Kelly’s music didn’t see large streaming bumps, but both artists were immediately trending on social media after they sang.
“These performances are not about direct sales or streams; the memorable Anthem performances are like cultural reference points for a lot of people, and they generate significant conversation online after the game itself,” Silverman says.
That conversation doesn’t happen by accident. “My job, as soon as an opportunity like this is confirmed, is to get the team in the huddle and prepare a digital strategy and make sure that we’re clipping these moments and making sure that audiences are seeing this as widely as possible,” Silverman continues. “What’s great about this is that it allows us to have visibility to people that aren’t necessarily fans of Tori, because the name of the game is always new fan acquisition and heightened awareness.”
Zaruk agrees. “We were hoping it was going to be a big reaction, because there’s so many people who watch the World Cup,” he says of Dan +Shay’s performance, which subsequently went viral. “I can tell you, there isn’t a single person who thought the reaction was going to be this big… I’ve been to Super Bowls and some of the biggest sporting events. I’ve never been in an event where the energy was so electric.”
At a time when the country — and, in many cases, the world — is so divided, artists have to seek out these unifying opportunities. “It does feel that major sporting events are really one of the last remaining true mass culture moments, where everybody is watching something at the same time,” Silverman says. “Finding these really key cultural moments that we have in sporting events is just truly invaluable.”
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