How Long is the National Anthem? History, Times, and Trends ahead of Super Bowl 2026

The annual blend of stopwatches and patriotism at the Super Bowl leads to an inevitable question: How long is the national anthem?

The answer isn't as simple as it may seem, and it's key for your Super Bowl predictions. Throughout the years there have often been nuances to every performance ahead of kickoff. This year Charlie Puth gets to do the honor on Feb. 8 before the game begins at 6:30 p.m. ET from Levi's Stadium.

⏱️ How long is the national anthem?

Broadly speaking, an instrumental version of the anthem will run roughly one minute and 20 seconds. That's relevant when looking at how to bet the Super Bowl Bowl anthem 2026, because it quickly becomes clear how much time is added with even a little bit of vocal creative license.

There's been wide variation when looking at just the past 10 Super Bowls, as we did when considering how to bet Super Bowl novelty props. The longest during that time was Lady Gaga ahead of Super Bowl 50 at a tortoise-like 2:22. On the other end more recently, Reba McEntire wasn't screwing around while belting out the Star-Spangled Banner at a comparatively blistering 1:35 prior to Super Bowl 58.

Zooming out even further, Alicia Keys holds the record for the longest anthem at 2:36, while Neil Diamond is the premier sprinter at 1:02.

📖 What are the betting rules for the Super Bowl national anthem?

Before we dive deeper here and into Puth's outlook, it's important to remember that most of the best Super Bowl betting sites stipulate that timing for the anthem begins when the singer starts to vocalize their first word, and it ends at the conclusion of "brave."

There's plenty of opportunity for variety within those parameters still, but that takes out anything like a piano solo to start or end the performance.

⌚ How long will Charlie Puth take to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl 2026?

As always, the Over/Under for Puth could waver amid the buildup to The Big Game, especially if there are leaks following rehearsals. For now though, FanDuel Ontario is setting it at a pretty standard two minutes.

Several recent performances have hovered right around that mark, including Jon Batiste (1:59, Super Bowl 59), Chris Stapleton (2:01, Super Bowl 57), and Gladys Knight (also 2:01, Super Bowl 53).

Puth said in early comments after getting the gig that the image of his performance he held in his head involved putting a "lot of jazz into it," via ABC, hinting at some creative expression.

There are further hints in who he views as his Super Bowl anthem icons. He mentioned Stapleton in that regard while speaking to People recently, whose rendition cashed the Over on the line for Puth. Most notably, he holds fellow New Jersey native Whitney Houston's renowned performance up high.

"I’m going to be inspired by what Whitney did, but I can’t ever touch what she did," he said to People. "That’s the best one ever done — that and the Chris Stapleton one. That was raw. Made grown men cry. I just want to do my own thing with the hardest piece of music ever written."

Puth certainly isn't a sprinter in terms of his performance style when looking at his vocal approach on stage. He doesn't fall under the category of an ultra slow burner along the lines of Lady Gaga or Alicia Keyes either. But his pacing is often slower, as is the case with his hits "See You Again" and "One Call Away," and the national anthem offers a similar opportunity to elongate notes.

📜 Super Bowl national anthem history and trends

There's a wide range in terms of the total time when we look back since Super Bowl 41.

Some notes and observations:

• The Over has hit during five straight Super Bowls, three of which were given the same line as what Puth is receiving
• There's a mixed bag though with the final times, as 10 came in at two minutes or above, and nine were under that mark
• Puth seems unlikely to be a burner like Diamond or even Billy Joel, and only three in the sample above went lower than 1:40
• The Under has hit consecutively just once since Super Bowl 41