national anthem

“Star-Spangled Banner” performances have become something of a cottage industry for upcoming Indy 500 singer LeAnn Rimes. Here are some of our past faves.

Anderson-based Sandi Patty—who will sing the national anthem before the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday—confides that you should “try to push out of your mind that you wish you were singing God Bless America.”

Country-music siren Martina McBride will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during pre-race ceremonies at the Indianapolis 500 on May 27. Most likely she will belt out the performance, much like we expected Kelly Clarkson to do at the Super Bowl here instead of offering this rather restrained take.

First, in defense of Madonna as halftime show performer, the erstwhile Material Girl has just that—oodles of material—to work with. And yet she has been passed off as a “karaoke singer” (et tu, Gene Simmons?) and an over-the-hill, washed-up pop diva. Smacks of ageism, if you ask me. (And you didn’t.)