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Country music is often called upon to perform “The Star Spangled Banner,” and the genre never disappoints. Through the years, a multitude of country music artists have been trusted with the honor of kicking off a sporting event with a performance of America’s national anthem. Whether it be a big game in the NHL playoffs, or the most important game of the year for the NFL (A.K.A. the Super Bowl), more often than not, a country music artist is asked to meet the moment. And they always do. Though the national anthem won’t be handled by a country music star at this year’s “Big Game” (pop star Charlie Puth will be), it’s still fun to think back on all of the times that some of the biggest names in country have been entrusted to deliver a strong, perfectly-executed “Star Spangled Banner” rendition ahead of massive sporting events. In fact, I went ahead and put together a power ranking of the best country music national anthem performances of all time and collected them all below. You may or may not agree with me (or you might believe I left a couple of worthy ones out)… but I feel pretty good about my list. And since we all know Chris Stapleton is the GOAT, we technically left him off the list (well, not really… he’s at the very end). So without further ado, let’s get to the best country anthem performances of all time… NOT named Chris Stapleton. 5. Eric Church & Jazmine Sullivan at Super Bowl LV When two genres collide. This “Star Spangled Banner” performance doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Super Bowl LV’s national anthem acted as a musical crossroad, with Eric Church bringing his patented country sound together with R&B artist Jazmine Sullivan. It was more instrument driven, and admittedly a bit busy, but it was still cool to see the Chief put his personal touch on the patriotic song ahead of the “Big Game.” 4. Cody Johnson at the 2024 MLB All-Star Game An instant classic from CoJo. When the MLB All-Star Game was hosted in Johnson’s home state of Texas, the major leagues called, and Cody Johnson answered. The uberly talented country star walked out on the field and gave “The Star Spangled Banner” everything he had, and it was an incredible moment. Nothing flashy, and nothing added… just singing the beloved anthem as only CoJo can: 3. Martina McBride at the 2009 AFC Championship Game The beautiful vocals of Martina McBride were the perfect fit for the 2009 AFC Championship game. Just before the Ravens and the Steelers faced off with a spot in the Super Bowl on the line, the “Independence Day” singer stood smack dab in the middle of the Pittsburgh logo and put on a show. Vocally, it might be one of the best national anthem performances ever, and she had the crowd in the palm of her hand when she nailed all of the high notes: 2. Reba McEntire at Super Bowl LVIII Getting one of the queen’s of country music to perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl just makes sense. Everyone was over the moon when Reba McEntire was announced as the national anthem singer back in 2024. The living country music legend had sang “The Star Spangled Banner” plenty of times in her life, but none were on a stage bigger than the Super Bowl. As you might imagine, Reba absolutely crushed it: .@reba sings the National Anthem at Super Bowl LVIII! #SBLVIII pic.twitter.com/yEQi89hYGg — NFL (@NFL) February 11, 2024 1. Zach Top at the 2026 NFC Championship Game This Zach Top “Star Spangled Banner” performance seemingly came out of nowhere. Ahead of NFC Championship between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle, the franchise had somewhat of a hometown kid (Zach is from Sunnyside, Washington) sing “The Star Spangled Banner.” Every country music and Zach Top fanatic out there absolutely loved it, and anyone who hadn’t ever heard of the country singer from Washington instantly became a fan: Zach Top performing the national anthem before the NFC Championship Game. pic.twitter.com/ZGLgpflO9A — Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) January 25, 2026 And of course… the GOAT. Chris Stapleton at Super Bowl LVII Not only is this the best country music national anthem performance ever… it might be the best rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” of all time. Chris Stapleton set the bar high with his calm-yet-powerful pacing to the song. Everything in the world came to a halt when Stapleton and his electric guitar tackled the national anthem. It was even enough to bring Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni to tears: I love you Reba, but… nobody is topping Chris Stapleton’s national anthem. pic.twitter.com/gYLnpaZVoo — Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) February 11, 2024 The post Ranking The Top 5 Country Music National Anthem Performances Of All Time… NOT Named Chris Stapleton first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The U.S. House on Tuesday passed a spending package totaling more than $1 trillion, ending the partial government shutdown which had begun on Saturday. The package passed as part of a deal to avoid a broader government shutdown. Under the package, the government’s largest departments, such as the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense, will be funded through the end of the fiscal year in September. But the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, is only funded through February 13. This may queue up a coming budgetary fight, with Democrats intending to force reforms onto immigration enforcement. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), a senior Democrat, urged his colleagues to vote for the bill “to make sure that our federal employees come to work and do their job for the American people and get paid for it.” Hoyer added that “there will be a lot of time to debate the operations of Homeland Security and, in my view, the laws that they are breaking, the Constitution that they are not respecting and the human rights that they are underlining.”  The funding package passed by 217-214, but did not follow the usual partisan lines, with 21 Republicans voting against the bill and 21 Democrats for it. An earlier procedural vote to advance the package, necessary for it to be voted on, had passed 217-215, with only Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) breaking ranks to vote against it. The post House Votes to End Partial Government Shutdown appeared first on The American Conservative.