The Best and Worst National Anthem Performances Ever

The National Anthem has been performed millions of times, and in honor of Independence Day, we have rounded up some of the best and worst renditions ever! Whitney Houston and Marvin Gaye carried out beautiful, soulful arrangements that will be hard to top, while Rosanne Barr delivered what is quite possibly the worst National Anthem performance in history. Take a look below to see who slayed and who butchered "The Star Spangled Banner."

Worst: Fergie

The "Fergalicious" singer delivered a jazzy rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the NBA All Star Game in 2018. She put an interesting spin on it to say the least and even made players like Steph Curry and LeBron James chuckle.

Best: Marvin Gaye

The real winner of the 1983 NBA All-Star game was Marvin Gaye and his show stealing rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Worst: Christina Aguilera

YouTube commenters referred to Xtina's National Anthem performance as a "vocal acrobatic mashup" with a made up melody.

Best: Beyoncé

Bey lived out a childhood dream by performing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in 2004, which took place in her hometown of Houston.

Worst: Dierks Bentley

As a longtime season ticket holder for the Nashville Predators, it must have been quite the honor for Dierks Bentley to perform the National Anthem before game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. While he didn't necessarily do anything wrong, many spectators thought the performance fell flat.

Best: Whitney Houston

This Super Bowl performance in 1991 has been dubbed the best of the best. Some say it will never be topped!

Worst: Kat DeLuna

The "Drop It Low" singer somewhat bombed her National Anthem performance in Dallas when the batteries for her in-ears died. She accepted defeat, though.

Best: Lady Gaga

Mother Monster kicked off Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California with a perfect "Star Spangled Banner" performance. The following year, she played the half-time show.

Worst: Rosanne Barr

To be fair, what else would you expect from a comedian? Barr literally laughs and shrieks her way through this pre-Padres game performance in 1990. Needless to say, she got booed.

Best: Carrie Underwood

Underwood would have been at the game anyway to support her husband, Preds player Mike Fisher, but she had the honor of singing the National Anthem this time!

Worst: R. Kelly

Handclaps and step dancers? Why?

Best: Jennifer Hudson

At the Super Bowl in 2009, JHud blew everyone away with an incredible National Anthem performance backed by an orchestra.

Worst: Steven Tyler

First rule of singing the National Anthem: don't change the words.

Best: Faith Hill

She crushed it and she knew!

Worst: Keri Hilson

Keri Hilson knocked herself down when she forgot the lyrics during her National Anthem performance at an Atlanta Hawks game in 2010. She tried to blame it on technical difficulties.

Photos: Getty Images


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