NBC Insider Exclusive

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!

Sign Up For Free to View
NBC Insider Saturday Night Live

Maya Rudolph Sang the National Anthem Version to End Them All on SNL

Rudolph is a contest winner who takes "The Star-Spangled Banner" to wild vocal highs and hilariously bizarre lows in this hysterical SNL sketch.

By Samantha Vincenty
National Anthem
Video thumbnail
Now Playing
3:19
Full Episode
National Anthem
Video thumbnail
3:05
Web Exclusive
Best of Saturday Night Live Season 50
Video thumbnail
3:09
Web Exclusive
Saturday Night Live Season 50 Bloopers
Video thumbnail
3:56
Highlight
Weekend Update: Twins Bridgette and Paula Powers on Why Americans Should Move to Australia
Video thumbnail
3:54
Highlight
Graduation Day
Video thumbnail
14:10
Highlight
Weekend Update ft. Ego Nwodim and Season 50 Finale Joke Swap
Video thumbnail
3:43
Highlight
Intimacy Coordinators
Video thumbnail
4:16
Highlight
Scarlett Johansson Monologue
Video thumbnail
4:13
Highlight
Bowen's Still Straight
Video thumbnail
5:25
Highlight
Trump Middle East Trip Cold Open
Video thumbnail
4:19
Highlight
Local News Stories
Video thumbnail
2:34
Highlight
Bad Bunny: NUEVAYoL (Live)
Video thumbnail
3:13
Highlight
Weekend Update: Miss Eggy on Airplane Food
Video thumbnail
3:56
Highlight
Mike Myers Elevator Ride
Video thumbnail
1:09
Highlight
Weekend Update: Amazon Driver Defecates on Porch, Dick's Acquires Footlocker for $2B
Video thumbnail
4:05
Highlight
TV Press Junket
Video thumbnail
2:55
Highlight
Bad Bunny: PERFuMITO NUEVO ft. RaiNao (Live)
Video thumbnail
4:06
Highlight
Victorian Ladies at Lunch

As anyone who's watched Maya Rudolph on Saturday Night Live knows, Rudolph's comedic gifts are matched by her musical talents. Whether she's tearing up the SNL set with a dancefloor-ready number like May 11, 2024's "I'm Your Mother" monologue, pretending to be a member of ABBA, or singing just like Christina Aguilera, Rudolph is a master of using her body as an instrument. And in 2006's "National Anthem" sketch, Rudolph managed to sing "badly" the way only a great performer can. 

How to Watch

Watch Saturday Night Live Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on NBC and Peacock, streaming next day on Peacock.

RELATED: Emma Stone and Maya Rudolph's Harmonies Are Angelic

Maya Rudolph sang the national anthem like you've never heard it before 

In "National Anthem" from Season 32, Rudolph plays a woman named Pamela Bell, set to sing the song before Game 5 of the World Series after winning a local supermarket contest.

RELATED: Scarlett Johansson Sings in This Wild Jam Session of an SNL Sketch

Her big moment is introduced by sports announcers Joe Buck (Jason Sudeikis) and Tim McCarver (Bill Hader). Dressed in jeans and a classic early-2000s "going out top," Pamela takes the mic at the center of the baseball stadium and immediately forgoes the "Oh, say can you see" opening lyric, opting for some jazzy, abstract vocalizations instead.

Maya Rudolph during her monologue on Saturday Night Live Episode 1863

Pamela's spin on "The Star-Spangled Banner" moves from throaty attempts to channel Whitney Houston to a breathy, Britney Spears-esque coo in a matter of seconds. She also doesn't seem to fully know the words, and as she sings of "the twa-lah...last bleaming," the camera cuts back to the now completely stunned sportscasters.

The back half of the song goes fully off the rails as Rudolph uses her elastic voice to veer between deep-throated growls and spoken-word-style riffing complete with pantomime — and draws genuine applause from the SNL audience because, in spite of it all, Rudolph remains a fantastic singer.

RELATED: Maya Rudolph's Mother Minnie Riperton Sang Songs You Definitely Know

"B to the R to the A to the V to the E, buh-buh-buh braaave-ah! Thank you!" Pamela sings, bringing it home as she appears to rev an invisible motorcycle. Move over, Whitney Houston.

Maya Rudolph during the National Anthem sketch on saturday night live

About "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Written by Francis Scott Key, the song that's become the United States' national anthem is set to a tune that was already popular at the time: The British song "To Anacreon in Heaven" (also known as "The Anacreontic Song"), composed by John Stafford Smith

Key was inspired to write the lyrics after a real experience he had during the War of 1812. Witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore in 1814 — the "rockets' red glare" and "bombs bursting in air" referred to in the song — as he watched from a ship, he was heartened to see a large flag still waving at daybreak.

Since then, the song has been given memorable treatment from Houston, Beyoncé, Meat Loaf, and many more.