Few things can elicit heightened levels of emotion better than hearing your country’s national anthem. The U.S. just so happens to have one of the more beautiful anthems around the world — some would argue that it’s head and shoulders above the rest. That’s why it should come as no surprise that people are raving about Sunday night’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” performed before the start of Super Bowl LIII.
Legendary R&B singer Gladys Knight made the country’s goosebumps get goosebumps with her performance of the anthem.
Take a look:
That ending! That’s how you sing the national anthem. It didn’t involve a vocalist trying to show off their singing chops by going on extended runs at the end of a line. Knight was powerful when she needed to be and subdued when the song called for it.
In other words, Knight sang the anthem with the respect it so richly deserves.
People on Twitter gave glowing praise to Knight’s performance:
Absolutely! The first thing I wondered was if Knight’s rendition of the anthem was the best Super Bowl anthem performance since the late Whitney Houston knocked it out of the park back in 1991.
It really doesn’t matter who was better at singing the anthem. Both were sung with heart, passion and class.