Length of the national anthem at every Super Bowl in history

The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event on the American calendar and is the most-watched television event each year. The game is plenty-watched, but we can also expect big viewer numbers for all the other events of the day.

The halftime show is regularly a must-watch, and even the Puppy Bowl does big numbers. The festivities of the day also include the national anthem. Each year, a notable singer performs the Star-Spangled Banner just ahead of kickoff. Sometimes we get multiple singers, but usually it’s a single singer.

The national anthem has been involved in American sports for over a century, dating back to at least the 1918 World Series. That came in the closing days of World War 1, and it’s no surprise that the anthem became a regular feature during World War 2.

The anthem has been performed at all but one Super Bowl and has seen bigger and bigger names in recent years. The anthem at the first Super Bowl featured The Pride of Arizona, Michigan Marching Band & UCLA Choir. In 1977 at Super Bowl 11, Vikki Carr sang “America the Beautiful” before the game. The Super Bowl pre-game now includes the anthem, “America the Beautiful”, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.

During the 80s we saw big names become regular participants in the anthem. The most notable was arguably Whitney Houston, who sang an emotional anthem at Super Bowl 25, which occurred during the first Gulf War.

Traditionally, the anthem performance only features the first verse, and while it is the same word length, the amount of time it takes to sing the song varies by performance. The Super Bowl 1 anthem performance was 1:16. The longest anthem performance belongs to Alicia Keys, who sang the song in 2:36 at Super Bowl 47 in 2013. The shortest performance belongs to Neil Diamond, who sang it in 1:02 at Super Bowl 21 in 1987. The time was never recorded for Phyllis Kelly at Super Bowl 12 in 1978.

The anthem length is notable because it has become a popular prop bet. Performers generally go over or under by a sizable enough margin to not create much controversy. However, in 2011 at Super Bowl 45, Christina Aguilera brought some controversy. She finished with a time of 1:54, but skipped an entire verse of the song. This resulted in offshore sportsbooks offering refunds or paying out both the over and under for the performance.

Here is a complete list of times for Star-Spangled Banner performances throughout Super Bowl history.