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Whitney Houston's Epic 'Star Spangled Banner' Rereleased With New Artwork


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30 years ago to this day, Whitney Houston's performance of the "Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV raised the bar for the national anthem forever.

In honor of the milestone anniversary, RCA Records has rereleased the classic 1991 performance, which was performed alongside The Florida Orchestra, onto digital service providers with a new interpretation of the artwork for the single. If you’re a music history buff, you already know that Houston’s rendition was certified platinum by the RIAA and hit the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Proceeds from the single raised over $1 million for military families and veterans of the Persian Gulf War.

Aside from delivering patriotic responsibilities during the NFL showdown, Houston's version was loaded with significance, especially for Black America. Her musical director, Rickey Minor, helped Houston churn out a gospel leaning rendition for the country amid the launch of the Persian Gulf War. "Her gospel inflections claimed it for African Americans, many of whom felt a connection to it for the first time. … No one said Whitney wasn't black enough,” the star's former assistant, Robyn Crawford, wrote in her 2019 book, A Song For You.

As Esquire pointed out, the gospel take on the national anthem was almost derailed by NFL executives who thought the rendition would be over the top. According to whispers, they asked that the song be redone, but Houston's father reportedly pushed back. After the number, she went to watch the game, found out later that the world wanted to purchase a copy of the performance and the rest is history.

"They say the national anthem is one of the hardest songs to sing, but it gets a whole lot easier to use those notes when you think about the many men and women risking their lives in the Middle East," Houston said at the time of the track's release.
 

And since the super bowl version was prerecorded, here’s a live version for the haters that say she could not have done it live.

 

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I have been looking at a lot of reaction video for this performance. I can never get tired of listening to this.

mariah has christmas covered, but as soon as January/SuperBowl rolls around the talk switches to this performance of the anthem.

does anyone know who’s singing the nation anthem at this years SuperBowl? I’m too lazy to google it.

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Btw, did Whitneys estate and Primary Wave really stoop this low to try and charge people for an updated single cover of the song. They even took away America The Beautiful which was the B-Side.

I can see Britney’s label being this desperate in the future when they rerelease her singles/albums with just an updated single/album cover. Lol

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