Sometimes kids sing it, and celebrities are occasionally asked to sing it with disastrous results. Many famous and not-so-famous musicians have performed it before football, basketball, hockey and baseball games.

In the US, this is played before most professional sporting events. Then, in he hour of deliverance, and joyful triumph, my heart spoke and 'Does not such a country and such defenders of their country deserve a song?' was its question.' (Thanks to the folks at the Fort McHenry national monument for providing this information.)

Key later described the event: 'Through the clouds of the warthe stars of that banner still shone in my view, and I saw the discomfited host of its assailants driven back in ignominy to their ships. This inspired him to write down notes for his famous poem, which he finished upon his return to Baltimore the evening of the 16th. The next morning (in the 'dawn's early light') Key saw the Americans take down the battle-torn US flag at the fort and replace it with a larger one. On September 13, the British launched a fierce bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore that lasted throughout the night, an event Key witnessed from the deck of a US truce ship. However, the British planned to attack Baltimore and would not release the Americans until after the battle. On September 7, Key reached the British fleet and after a few days of negotiations, secured the release of the prisoner. The poem that formed the basis of the lyrics was penned in 1814 during the War of 1812 by Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer who was sent to negotiate with the British in an attempt to gain the release of an American prisoner they were holding. This song is the national anthem of the United States.

The star spangled banner song youtube