2010 marks the United States’ 234th birthday and throughout the course of Billboard magazine’s chart history, only one patriotic anthem has topped the charts on the 4th of July: My Country ‘Tis of Thee by Jules Levy, which held the honor in 1893.
Our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key and was also a chart-topper. But it missed being #1 on July 4 by just a few weeks when John McCormack’s performance reached the peak during the week of Flag Day, June 14, 1917.
Our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key and was also a chart-topper. But it missed being #1 on July 4 by just a few weeks when John McCormack’s performance reached the peak during the week of Flag Day, June 14, 1917.
My Country ‘Tis of Thee competed heavily with The Star-Spangled Banner for national anthem status and served as such (unofficially) until an act of Congress proclaimed TSSB as our official national anthem on March 3, 1931.
Interestingly, given that the primary subject matter of each song corresponds more to the respective holidays on which they were #1, one has to wonder if the music charts of those days more accurately reflect which song was popularly considered to be our national anthem.
Soundtrack For Today: Happy Birthday, America!
Whitney Houston holds a distinctive record with her Superbowl XXV performance of TSSB charting twice on the Billboard Hot 100 – in 1991 and 2001.
