Super Bowl Anthem Length
We clocked an unofficial time of 1:51.
The 2022 Super Bowl will feature an all-star lineup, both on and off the field.
Before we turn our attention to the decorated Bengals and Rams players and the jam-packed halftime show, four-time Grammy-nominated country music star Mickey Guyton will perform the national anthem for Super Bowl LVI.
"I am freaking out. Oh my God," Guyton told Tionah Lee in an exclusive for Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday. "It’s just so much. Literally two years ago, this wasn’t even a possibility for me and now I'm singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. It's crazy."
Considering the Super Bowl anthem length is an annual favorite among sports bettors, we've taken it upon ourselves to equip you with all the relevant knowledge you need to bet it.
Below you'll find:
- More information on the performers.
- An analysis of the past 21 performances.
- How our in-house expert is handicapping it.
Click on any bullet point above to skip ahead. Otherwise, let's get to it!
Who Is Mickey Guyton?
Guyton is a 38-year-old artist from Arlington, Texas. Her music is considered contemporary country with R&B influences. She began singing at church at a young age and moved to Nashville in 2011, where she signed a recording contract with Capitol Records Nashville. Her first record was released in 2015, a year in which she was nominated for the "New Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music Awards.
In 2020, Guyton was nominated for the "Best Country Solo Performance" for "Black Like Me" at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
This year, Guyton has earned three pending Grammy nominations for "Best Country Album," "Best Country Song" and "Best Country Solo Performance." She is the first Black artist to earn a nomination for "Best Country Album" for "Remember Her Name," which was inspired by Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman who was shot and killed by Louisville police officers in her apartment during a botched raid.
"There's so much division in this country and there’s so much that is happening, it’s hard," Guyton told ET. "This is a moment that I get to be that Black girl from Texas that gets to stand on that stage and sing and hopefully unite the country. I'm going to have a choir behind me and it’s all the faces of America. This is the America that I would be proud to wave my American flag emoji for."
Guyton performed the national anthem at the 2021 National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C. at a speedy pace of 1 minute and 26 seconds. This is shorter than any time recorded in the last 21 Super Bowls.
There's also a partial video of Guyton singing the anthem at the Country Radio Seminar in 2015 that lasts 81 seconds.
"I guess they call me Quicky Mickey," she said, "because I do sing the national anthem fast."
Past Super Bowl Anthem Performances
We watched video and timed the length of the past 21 Super Bowl anthem performances for a better understanding of what to expect from Guyton at Super Bowl LVI. Since the 2000 season, they've averaged just over one minute and 58 seconds.
Here's how the average lengths of both sample sizes compare:
- Past 21 performances: 1:58:33
We've outlined every performer since the 2000 season along with our timed lengths below.
Eric Church | |||
Aaron Neville | |||
Seven of the last 15 national anthem performances have gone over, while six of 15 have gone under (two pushes). That said, this year’s expected line is very low and only one of the last 15 performances went under 1:32. Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church — the performers at Super Bowl LV — smashed the line of 1:59 and lasted 2:16.
2022 Super Bowl Anthem Odds
Since legal sportsbooks are not offering a line on the national anthem, we asked Ryan Collinsworth — our colleges editor whose work as a musician includes vocal coaching — to set one for us.
His line? Two minutes even.
Collinsworth: Let’s just get this out of the way up front: Mickey Guyton is no Jazmine Sullivan. And frankly, I highly doubt you will find any professional musician, singer or instructor who could justifiably contend otherwise.
Sullivan — last season’s Super Bowl national anthem singer (accompanied by Eric Church) — possesses one of the richest low registers in the industry, remarkable palatal flexibility, highly refined musicality to her melismatic embellishments, and breath support of the gods. She is effortlessly exceptional — technically and artistically.
In contrast, Guyton is perhaps a more approachable artist musically, but any comparison drawn to Sullivan’s performance from last season is a serious stretch — just like the strain Guyton’s voice bellies when stretching to find support at D5 and higher. Ouch.
To be clear: I’m not disparaging Guyton simply to throw shade; indeed, her range limitations have a legitimate impact on the national anthem length handicap. So, let’s set a baseline for what we might expect from Guyton’s anthem performance.
The anthem requires vocalists to cover a one-and-a-half octave range from the melody’s lowest tone to its highest. Many singers further embellish the melody by adding the second octave of the tonic on the line, “O’er the land of the free.” Some are more successful than others when attempting this additional jump of a perfect-fourth interval.
Guyton possesses the requisite range to traverse the "Star-Spangled Banner," as exemplified in her song, “Black Like Me,” which spans 17 semitones and flirts with tones a major-third beyond that. However, this does not mean that she possesses the requisite support at the extremes of her range in order to indulge there for long.
The lowest extreme of Guyton’s chest voice begins to lose support around F3, but her discography nonetheless provides a few examples of her exerting control as low as E3. The real problem note for Guyton is Eb3. In the few examples on record where she’s attempted this low note, her support has been inconsistent — if not outright poor.
Therefore, she will certainly avoid Eb3 by pitching the anthem in the Key of E or higher. Guyton’s lower register really finds its gravitas around F#3 to G#3, so she’d certainly find relief early in the tune by pitching the anthem in the Key of F# or G. The problem, however, is that these keys compel her to strain for a proper belt at C#2 or D2 (less than ideal) — and further, it allows no additional margin in her upper register to embellish that belt with her characteristic warbling vibrato.
Instead, I’d bet Guyton opts for the Key of F Major. She has chosen this key four times across her discography, which ranks fifth in her catalog behind Bb, C, G and B, respectively. Her healthiest belt sits around Bb4 – B4, which is a perfect fit for the Key of F, and she’s further demonstrated some measure of control at C5, as well.
There is one drawback, however. The Key of F Major is not particularly kind to a guitar accompanist — especially in a classic rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner." In particular, the song’s C7, G7, Bb major and Csus4 chords would likely be fretted suboptimally in the service of voice-leading. A capo at the first fret in the Key of E Major could prove problematic for intonation — as would detuning a whole step to play the tune in G major relative to the fretboard. Thus, I expect piano or orchestral accompaniment to serve as the backbone for the live arrangement.
Recent Super Bowl national anthem performances featuring similar compositions include Demi Lovato (2020), Gladys Knight (2019) and Lady Gaga (2016). Lovato’s performance two years ago was one of the quickest — arguably rushed — anthems I’ve witnessed, clocking in at 1:49. Knight clocked 2:01 in her stellar, timeless rendition … and Lady Gaga was remarkably impressive en route to a 2:22 time in 2016.
I analyzed all anthem performances since 2000, and Lady Gaga’s stood out as one of the relatively few performances that appears to have foregone the use of a click track via in-ear monitoring. Therefore, I believe we can hone in on Lovato’s and Knight’s renditions as reasonable comps for the tempo and cadence that Guyton may invoke this year.
Lovato’s composition spared zero margin for embellishment, totaling 119 beats from start to finish (including the pick-up to start the song). I counted these bars personally in order to confirm. Moreover, Lovato’s tempo was dead-on 65 beats per minute, which perfectly translates to the 1:49 vocal length officially recorded in 2020.
Knight also performed at approximately 65 beats per minute, but her arrangement allowed much more freedom for the rhythmic pulse to slide about the bar. Furthermore, Knight also riffed around and beyond the bar substantially more frequently than Lovato, leading to 131 total beats versus Lovato’s mark of 119. Once again, the math adds up perfectly, resulting in an actual time of 2:01 from start to finish.
What does all of this mean for Guyton’s prospective time? For starters, a time approaching 1:40 or lower seems highly improbable. Even if Guyton dispenses with embellishments altogether, she would be severely hard-pressed to clock a time under 100 seconds. Rather, I think the true line ought to rest around 2 minutes flat (120 seconds).
If you do a bit of shopping to find your national anthem prop, you’ll notice that 100 seconds (1:40) is among the most common lines available in the betting market. I would recommend hammering the over — except that at most shops, the over is juiced as high as -160, which is a price I’m not willing to lay for a prop such as this. Nonetheless, should you find a number at -135 or better, that’s when I’d jump back in. Additionally, if you have the option to play an alternate line higher than 100 seconds, then I’d be willing to stick with the over as high as 110 seconds at even money or better.
