https://pudding.cool/2024/02/anthems/ Skip to main content Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner Please rise and enable your audio for a stirring analysis of the United States National Anthem By Jan Diehm and Michelle McGhee Loading maya rudoply singing the national anthem on snl When you think of legendary National Anthem performances, there's a good chance Whitney Houston's 1991 Super Bowl rendition comes to mind. More than 30 years later, and it's still widely considered one of the best, if not the best, National Anthem performances of all time. Then there's Fergie's viral performance from the 2018 NBA All-Star game. It's also considered one of the most memorable National Anthem renditions, but for entirely different reasons. The "Star Spangled Banner" has become a pop culture moment. Performers must make a calculated choice: stay classic and traditional or infuse it with flair. Maya Rudolph's SNL performance is probably one of the most extreme paths you could choose. Let's look at the paths of nearly 140 performances from major political and sporting events. These lines track pitch (or frequency): the lower the line, the lower the notes and the higher the line, the higher the notes. We've transposed them all to the same key for easier comparison. Let's zoom in and look at it one phrase at a time. Whitney Houston Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Anthony Hamilton Anthony Hamilton headshot of Chaka Khan Chaka Khan headshot of Hunter Hayes Hunter Hayes Our picks headshot of Amber Riley Amber Riley We begin with "o say can you see." Francis Scott Key penned this opening line after seeing the American flag flying defiantly over Fort McHenry having withstood a bombardment by British forces during the War of 1812. The "Star Spangled Banner" didn't become the US' official anthem until nearly a century later in 1931, and it wasn't thrust into the pop culture spotlight until the late 1960s when Jose Feliciano, Jimi Hendrix, and other stars started to put their spin on the standard melody. It's this spin we're interested in, and to measure it we've created the Diva Score (nerdy details in the methods). It quantifies how much a performance melodically deviates from the standard. For this first phrase, most performers keep it pretty simple like Amber Riley from 2010. Using the Diva Score, we can go phrase by phrase and pick out the performers who were doing the most and those that made you say they " ain't no diva." Click on the faces of the certified top divas (plus our picks) to hear their interpretation of each phrase. Loading osaycanyousee Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Anthony Hamilton Anthony Hamilton headshot of Chris Stapleton Chris Stapleton headshot of Lauren Alaina Lauren Alaina Most performers don't really get going until the last half of the song so these first few phrases are comparatively tame. But Anthony Hamilton -- he's basically singing a different melody at the 2019 NBA All-Star Game. Loading bythedawn'searlylight Here, the phrases are ordered by average Diva Score instead of the order they are sung. The vocal fireworks start to explode around the "bombs are bursting in air." Average Diva Score by Phrase Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Fantasia Fantasia headshot of Chaka Khan Chaka Khan headshot of Luke Bryan Luke Bryan Our picks headshot of Fergie Fergie Let's see how Fergie is doing. Her 2018 NBA All-Star Game performance is surprisingly tame Diva Score-wise. Sadly, the Diva Score can't capture when someone manages to pronounce every single word in the weirdest, most sultry way possible. Loading whatsoproudlywehailed The NBA All-Star Game has been host to a lot of memorable national anthem performances -- from Marvin Gaye to Fergie. Overall, basketball games yielded higher Diva Scores than other sporting events and political events. Average Diva Score by Event Type Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Anthony Hamilton Anthony Hamilton headshot of John Legend John Legend headshot of Chris Stapleton Chris Stapleton Our picks headshot of Scotty Mccreery Scotty Mccreery headshot of Taylor Swift Taylor Swift By looking at the pitch line, you can pick out artists' signature shapes, like scooping into notes. This is a common technique for country stars like Chris Stapleton and Scotty McCreery. Speaking of "country" stars, our dataset has two Taylor Swift performances -- both (2006 and 2008) well before her pop shift. Back then she was just a kid with a guitar, so it's understandable that she records some of the overall lowest Diva Scores (#114 and #129). Loading atthetwilight'slastgleaming Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Aretha Franklin Aretha Franklin headshot of Usher Usher headshot of Marvin Gaye Marvin Gaye Our picks headshot of Patti Labelle Patti Labelle headshot of Tpain T-Pain Two words: Aretha Franklin. The "Queen of Soul" shows out on this phrase, and she's in good company: 8 of the top 10 Diva Scores for this phrase are from fellow R&B artists. Loading whosebroadstripesandbrightstars Average Diva Scores by music genre match intuition, with R&B and pop divas adding more flourishes than country or rock divas. Average Diva Score by Music Genre Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Anthony Hamilton Anthony Hamilton headshot of John Oates John Oates headshot of Marvin Gaye Marvin Gaye Our picks headshot of Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Sullivan The Diva Score measures chaos, but it can't tell if that chaos sounds good or bad. Case in point: Jazmine Sullivan rarely has a top 3 Diva Score (although she ranks as the #17 overall diva), but we think she consistently sings some of the most beautiful and creative vocal runs. Loading throughtheperilousfight Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Chaka Khan Chaka Khan headshot of Marvin Gaye Marvin Gaye headshot of Jewel Jewel Our picks headshot of Christina Aguilera Christina Aguilera headshot of Eric Burton Eric Burton This phrase is a common trip up for performers like Christina Aguilera and Eric Burton, who both double back over previously sung phrases. After her gaffe, Aguilera said she hoped the "true spirit of [the] anthem still came through." It did, X-Tina. Loading o'ertherampartswewatched Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Anthony Hamilton Anthony Hamilton headshot of Eric Burton Eric Burton headshot of Tpain T-Pain Good anthem performances are rarely a given, but artists like Whitney, Beyonce, and T-Pain make it look easy. Yes, you read that right, Mr. Autotune delivered a sterling rendition. This phrase was one of his top Diva Scores. Loading weresogallantlystreaming Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Chaka Khan Chaka Khan headshot of Patti Labelle Patti Labelle Our picks headshot of Steven Tyler Steven Tyler headshot of Trace Adkins Trace Adkins headshot of Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Hudson The "Star Spangled Banner" is treacherous to sing -- start off too high and "you're screwed." Trace Adkins sings in the lowest key among our dataset (D); Jennifer Hudson (and others) are in the highest (A); and Steven Tyler sings just a step below that in G, by far the highest of any other man in our dataset. Loading andtherocket'sredglare F# (F sharp) is the most common key for women. It's Bb (B flat) for men. Distribution of Musical Keys Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Chaka Khan Chaka Khan Our picks headshot of Her H.E.R. headshot of Taylor Swift Taylor Swift If you've been with us since the beginning, you'll notice that Chaka Khan has racked up 5 top diva appearances in these first 9 phrases. She has the highest average Diva Score per phrase, making her our #1 Diva. For slightly more mellow, but still noteworthy performances, check out H.E.R. at the 2023 World Series and Taylor Swift at the 2008 World Series, T-Swift's highest recorded Diva Score for a phrase. Loading thebombsburstinginair Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Chris Stapleton Chris Stapleton headshot of Demi Lovato Demi Lovato headshot of Peabo Bryson Peabo Bryson Our picks headshot of Carrie Underwood Carrie Underwood Some singers are National Anthem pros with 3 or more performances in our dataset. Carrie Underwood performed in 2010, 2007, 2006, and 2017 , with all her renditions sounding nearly identical. Meanwhile, Demi Lovato switches it up. They use unique vocal runs for each of their performances from 2012, 2015, and 2020. Loading gaveproofthroughthenight There are 7 performers in our dataset who have performed the National Anthem 3 or more times. This is their intra-Diva Score, or how they compare to themselves. How Similar Repeat Performers are to Themselves < More similar More different > headshot of Carrie Underwood Carrie Underwood headshot of Billy Joel Billy Joel headshot of Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks headshot of Mary J Blige Mary J. Blige headshot of Demi Lovato Demi Lovato headshot of Kelly Clarkson Kelly Clarkson headshot of Jewel Jewel Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Lady Gaga Lady Gaga headshot of Beyonce Beyonce headshot of Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks Our picks headshot of Juanita Booker Juanita Booker Two inauguration performances, where "flag" is emphasized, rise to the top for this phrase: Beyonce (2013) and Lady Gaga (2021). We've seen a big evolution since Juanita Booker's more traditional 1981 take. Loading thatourflagwasstillthere Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Cher Cher headshot of Lady Gaga Lady Gaga headshot of Fergie Fergie Fergie, what are you doing, girl? Loading osaydoesthatstarspangled Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Chaka Khan Chaka Khan headshot of Mary J Blige Mary J. Blige headshot of Patti Labelle Patti Labelle Our picks headshot of Kelly Clarkson Kelly Clarkson headshot of Christina Aguilera Christina Aguilera Towards the end of the anthem, you're not making the top diva list unless you have a well-deserved royalty nickname: "The Queen of Funk" Chaka Khan, "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" Mary J. Blige, and the "Godmother of Soul" Patti Labelle. Mary J. Blige, in particular, holds down two of the top 10 Diva Score spots for this phrase: her performances at the 2009 World Series and 2012 NBA All-Star Game. Loading banneryetwave Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger headshot of Patti Labelle Patti Labelle headshot of Renee Fleming Renee Fleming Our picks headshot of Steven Tyler Steven Tyler headshot of Kristen Chenoweth Kristen Chenoweth Remember, the Diva Score measures how different a performance is from the standard, so artists like Nicole Scherzinger and Steven Tyler who go up the octave and hit (well, sometimes hit) the high notes on "free" get bonus points. Here, you can also see the really tight vibrato waves from classical- and Broadway-trained singers like Renee Fleming and Kristen Chenoweth . Loading o'erthelandofthefree Standard Show divas Top divas headshot of Renee Fleming Renee Fleming headshot of Jewel Jewel headshot of Alicia Keys Alicia Keys headshot of Patti Labelle Patti Labelle headshot of Chaka Khan Chaka Khan headshot of Gladys Knight Gladys Knight headshot of Beyonce Beyonce headshot of Mariah Carey Mariah Carey headshot of Christina Aguilera Christina Aguilera headshot of Fergie Fergie The true divas shine for the anthem's closing phrase. Here are the top 10 Diva Scores. It's pure chaos in the best way possible. Loading andthehomeofthebrave [o say can you see ] Skip to more data Now that you know what to look and listen for in the "Star Spangled Banner," it's time to dive even further into the data. The heatmap below allows you to explore each of the 16 phrases for all 138 performances in our dataset. Surprisingly we didn't get tired of listened to the anthem when doing this project, so maybe you won't either! If you want to hear more about our favorites, check us out on the Switched on Pop podcast. Sort by [Name ] Clear Filter by [NBA Regular Season ] [Aaliyah ] [R&B ] < Less Diva More Diva > o say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rocket's red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o say does that star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave Aaliyah 1995 NBA Regular Season #69 Diva / Key: E Aaron Lewis 2014 World Series #79 Diva / Key: A Al Green 2000 NBA All-Star #125 Diva / Key: C# Alanis Morissette 2007 Stanley Cup #133 Diva / Key: Eb Alicia Keys 2013 Super Bowl #35 Diva / Key: G Aloe Blacc 2016 NBA Finals #109 Diva / Key: C Amber Riley 2012 DNC #75 Diva / Key: F Amber Riley 2010 MLB All-Star #61 Diva / Key: F# Anita Baker 2023 NFL Regular Season #60 Diva / Key: Ab Anthony Hamilton 2019 NBA All-Star #3 Diva / Key: F Aretha Franklin 1993 World Series #10 Diva / Key: F# Ariana Grande 2014 NFL Regular Season #87 Diva / Key: Ab Bebe Rexha 2017 Indy 500 #102 Diva / Key: F Beyonce 2013 Inauguration #8 Diva / Key: E Beyonce 2004 Super Bowl #28 Diva / Key: G Billy Joel 1979 Stanley Cup #136 Diva / Key: C Billy Joel 1989 Super Bowl #82 Diva / Key: C Billy Joel 2007 Super Bowl #128 Diva / Key: Bb Billy Joel 2000 World Series #122 Diva / Key: A Brad Paisley 2017 World Series #110 Diva / Key: B Brian McKnight 2005 MLB All-Star #83 Diva / Key: Eb Brooke Hogan 2004 Stanley Cup #88 Diva / Key: E Carly Pearce 2021 World Series #113 Diva / Key: Eb Carrie Underwood 2006 MLB All-Star #127 Diva / Key: F# Carrie Underwood 2017 Stanley Cup #111 Diva / Key: F# Carrie Underwood 2010 Super Bowl #105 Diva / Key: F# Carrie Underwood 2007 World Series #119 Diva / Key: F# Cassadee Pope 2023 Stanley Cup #66 Diva / Key: F# Chaka Khan 2020 NBA All-Star #1 Diva / Key: F Cher 1999 Super Bowl #36 Diva / Key: Eb Cheryl Ladd 1980 Super Bowl #129 Diva / Key: E Chloe Bailey 2022 World Series #6 Diva / Key: E Chris Daughtry 2011 World Series #84 Diva / Key: D Chris Stapleton 2023 Super Bowl #21 Diva / Key: C# Christina Aguilera 2004 NBA All-Star #31 Diva / Key: F Christina Aguilera 2011 Super Bowl #19 Diva / Key: F Cody Johnson 2019 World Series #98 Diva / Key: A Colbie Caillat 2013 World Series #44 Diva / Key: E Darius Rucker 1995 World Series #100 Diva / Key: Bb Demi Lovato 2020 Super Bowl #97 Diva / Key: Ab Demi Lovato 2012 World Series #23 Diva / Key: Ab Demi Lovato 2015 World Series #78 Diva / Key: Ab Diana Ross 1982 Super Bowl #93 Diva / Key: G Dierks Bentley 2017 Stanley Cup #63 Diva / Key: F Donna Summer 1999 MLB All-Star #123 Diva / Key: Eb Eric Burton 2022 World Series #26 Diva / Key: B Faith Hill 2000 Super Bowl #72 Diva / Key: G Fantasia 2023 NCAA Championship #20 Diva / Key: F# Fergie 2018 NBA All-Star #14 Diva / Key: G Gladys Knight 2019 Super Bowl #15 Diva / Key: D Gladys Knight 1991 World Series #58 Diva / Key: Eb Gretchen Wilson 2010 NBA All-Star #134 Diva / Key: E Harry Connick Jr. 1992 Super Bowl #99 Diva / Key: Ab H.E.R. 2023 World Series #57 Diva / Key: E Hunter Hayes 2016 World Series #74 Diva / Key: Bb Idina Menzel 2014 MLB All-Star #103 Diva / Key: F# Idina Menzel 2015 Super Bowl #68 Diva / Key: F Jackie Evancho 2017 Inauguration #101 Diva / Key: Ab James Taylor 2018 World Series #131 Diva / Key: Ab Jazmine Sullivan 2022 World Series #17 Diva / Key: F Jennifer Hudson 2009 Super Bowl #12 Diva / Key: A Jessica Simpson 2004 Indy 500 #64 Diva / Key: F Jessica Simpson 2001 NBA All-Star #118 Diva / Key: F# Jewel 2023 NBA All-Star #11 Diva / Key: Eb Jewel 1998 Super Bowl #114 Diva / Key: F Jewel 2001 World Series #91 Diva / Key: F Jimmy Buffett 1984 MLB Regular Season #137 Diva / Key: Bb Joe Walsh 1995 World Series #124 Diva / Key: Bb John Legend 2013 NBA All-Star #45 Diva / Key: Bb John Legend 2016 NBA Finals #24 Diva / Key: Bb John Oates 2008 World Series #67 Diva / Key: C# John Vincent 2016 World Series #92 Diva / Key: B Jon Secada 1992 World Series #112 Diva / Key: B Jordan Smith 2023 NFL Regular Season #40 Diva / Key: Eb Jordin Sparks 2011 MLB All-Star #34 Diva / Key: E Jordin Sparks 2017 NBA Finals #42 Diva / Key: Eb Jordin Sparks 2008 Super Bowl #13 Diva / Key: F Jordin Sparks 2023 World Series #27 Diva / Key: Eb Josh Groban 2011 NBA All-Star #108 Diva / Key: Bb Joyce Didonato 2014 World Series #65 Diva / Key: Ab Juanita Booker 1981 Inauguration #49 Diva / Key: Bb Keith Urban 2017 Stanley Cup #121 Diva / Key: C Kelly Clarkson 2018 Indy 500 #95 Diva / Key: G Kelly Clarkson 2019 Indy 500 #120 Diva / Key: G Kelly Clarkson 2010 World Series #80 Diva / Key: F# Kelsey Grammer 1996 MLB Regular Season #116 Diva / Key: F Kiana Lede 2023 MLB All-Star #73 Diva / Key: E Kristen Chenoweth 2019 WNBA All-Star #77 Diva / Key: G Lady Gaga 2021 Inauguration #33 Diva / Key: F# Lady Gaga 2016 Super Bowl #38 Diva / Key: F# Lauren Alaina 2021 World Series #46 Diva / Key: E Lauren Daigle 2020 NCAA Championship #29 Diva / Key: Eb LeAnn Rimes 1997 World Series #96 Diva / Key: F Luke Bryan 2017 Stanley Cup #76 Diva / Key: Bb Luke Bryan 2017 Super Bowl #48 Diva / Key: A Luther Vandross 1997 Super Bowl #106 Diva / Key: D Madison Beer 2020 Stanley Cup #37 Diva / Key: Ab Madison Watkins 2022 World Series #18 Diva / Key: E Marc Anthony 2012 DNC #51 Diva / Key: C# Mariah Carey 2002 Super Bowl #30 Diva / Key: E Martina Mcbride 2004 World Series #85 Diva / Key: F# Marvin Gaye 1983 NBA All-Star #9 Diva / Key: C Mary J. Blige 2012 NBA All-Star #43 Diva / Key: F# Mary J. Blige 2009 World Series #32 Diva / Key: F# Mary J. Blige 2013 World Series #56 Diva / Key: F Matthew Morrison 2012 World Series #126 Diva / Key: Bb Melissa Etheridge 2002 World Series #90 Diva / Key: D Mickey Guyton 2022 Super Bowl #25 Diva / Key: G Mickey Guyton 2023 World Series #86 Diva / Key: G Natalie Grant 2022 NCAA Championship #22 Diva / Key: Ab Nayah Damasen 2018 NBA Finals #50 Diva / Key: F# Ne-Yo 2016 NBA All-Star #54 Diva / Key: C# Ne-Yo 2020 NBA Regular Season #104 Diva / Key: D Nicole Scherzinger 2019 World Series #5 Diva / Key: F# Patrick Stump 2016 World Series #117 Diva / Key: C Patti Labelle 2008 World Series #2 Diva / Key: A Paul Simon 1986 World Series #94 Diva / Key: A Peabo Bryson 1992 World Series #16 Diva / Key: D Phillip Phillips 2012 World Series #135 Diva / Key: Ab Pia Toscano 2022 Memorial Day Concert #52 Diva / Key: F# Pink 2018 Super Bowl #62 Diva / Key: G Rachel Platten 2016 World Series #70 Diva / Key: F Reba McEntire 2024 Super Bowl #47 Diva / Key: D Renee Fleming 2014 Super Bowl #4 Diva / Key: A Scotty Mccreery 2011 World Series #59 Diva / Key: Ab Sheryl Crow 2018 Stanley Cup #89 Diva / Key: F# Stephanie Mills 2003 WNBA All-Star #71 Diva / Key: G Steven Tyler 2001 Indy 500 #55 Diva / Key: G Taylor Swift 2006 NFL Regular Season #130 Diva / Key: E Taylor Swift 2008 World Series #115 Diva / Key: E T-Pain 2015 MLB Regular Season #7 Diva / Key: Eb Trace Adkins 2020 RNC #81 Diva / Key: D Trisha Yearwood 2014 World Series #132 Diva / Key: Eb Usher 2015 NBA Finals #53 Diva / Key: Bb Whitney Houston 1991 Super Bowl #39 Diva / Key: Ab Whitney Houston 1999 WNBA All-Star #41 Diva / Key: F Zooey Deschanel 2011 World Series #107 Diva / Key: Eb Methods To build a catalog of celebrity National Anthem performances, we consulted several best-of lists, and collected performances from major sporting and political events like the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the presidential inauguration from 1980 on. We also included a few notable anthem performances prior to 1980. We then set out to find a suitable audio/video recording of the performance on YouTube. We were able to find roughly 180 performances. Using a free online converter, we extracted mp3 audio files from each YouTube link. We then manually trimmed the mp3 audio files so that they started right before the first word in the anthem and ended after the last. The trimmed audio was then uploaded to an AI-powered Vocal Remover program to isolate the vocals from the rest of the audio. Once we had the isolated vocal files, we loaded them into Tony, an open source melody transcription tool developed by the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary, University of London. Along with 4 additional data assistants (Amel Awadelkarim, Dustin D'Andrea, Noah Fagan, and George McIntire), we listened to each vocal track, manually removed errant sounds (crowd noise, echos, jet flyovers, band accompaniments) and corrected pitch when necessary. Some performances were dropped at this stage due to poor audio quality. We then exported the pitch data, which tracked frequency in Hz over time. We manually marked the starting and ending timestamps of each of the 16 phrases of the song. Some specific phrases for specific performances were also dropped at this stage due to poor audio quality. This process took over 100 hours of work and we couldn't have done it without our data assistants, so thank you! For each phrase, we used Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) to compare it to the corresponding phrase in a "standard" performance of the National Anthem. DTW measures the similarity between two temporal sequences, neutralizing any variation in speed. In other words, it measures the amount a performer deviates from the standard, strictly melodically. This is what we called the Diva Score for each phrase. The Diva Score for a full performance was calculated by taking the average for all phrases from that performance. It's not an exact science, but we think the Diva Scores match our intuition of what melodic Diva-ness is pretty closely! Finally, thank you to our colleague Kevin Litman-Narvarro who originally planted the idea of looking into National Anthem performances. The Pudding is a digital publication that explains ideas debated in culture with visual essays. * ABOUT * FACEBOOK * TWITTER * INSTAGRAM * PATREON * PRIVACY * NEWSLETTER * RSS