"The Star Spangled Banner" is a charity single recorded by American singer Whitney Houston to raise funds for soldiers and families of those involved in the Persian Gulf War.

Written by Francis Scott Key and composed by John Stafford Smith, "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States.

[8] Due to overwhelming response to her rendition, Arista Records announced that it was released as a single and video of her performance, and all profits would be donated to a charity connected with the war effort, to be selected by Houston at a later date.

And the proceeds―$531,650, a combined contribution from the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, Inc., Arista and Bertelsmann Music Group Distribution which donated all their royalties and profits from the sale of those―went to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund, which provided aid to US military personnel, their families and war victims in the region.

"[20] Liz Smith from Newsday called the performance "[a] magnificent rendition," commenting "Her [Houston's] powerhouse version [...] turned that often impossible-to-sing tune into a hit.

"[22] Jon Pareles of The New York Times said that Houston's rendition represented the image which the war was recast as "sexy and exhilarating" in the 1990s, becoming a counterpart to Jimi Hendrix's at Woodstock in 1969.

"[23] Deborah Wilker of South Florida Sun-Sentinel commented that Houston's version was a "moving rendition" and "imaginative arrangement" of the national anthem, adding "The rare moment on the football field showed her to be much more than a hit machine.

"[24] Jim Farber, a music critic of New York Daily News, in his review of Houston's 2000 album Whitney: The Greatest Hits, said the song was "bold enough to launch a thousand ships.

"[25] Sportswriter Dave Anderson of The New York Times commented that "When Whitney Houston belted out the national anthem with the nation at war, she reminded everybody that there was a much more important world out there beyond the Super Bowl, a much more important world beyond even the Giants' hold-your-breath triumph when Bills kicker Scott Norwood's 47-yard field goal try sailed wide right.

Adande, a sports columnist, commented that "It dripped red, white and blue," placing Houston's Super Bowl performance at number three on his list for the best renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner.

"[28] In 2005, Orlando Sentinel's Emily Badger, in her articles of the national anthem, picked Houston's rendition of the song as the first of the three good performances along with Marvin Gaye's at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, and Natalie Gilbert and Maurice Cheeks's in 2003 NBA playoffs, saying a word of praise: "Whitney Houston [...] was so good it sold successfully as a single.

"[29] Janet Mock of People magazine extolled her performance that "Houston gave one of the most iconic interpretations of the National Anthem in history.

"[31] Luchina Fisher and Sheila Marikar of ABC News, in their articles of lip-syncing, wrote that "Houston's unforgettable rendition of the anthem [...] set the standard that most singers have tried to top.

[40] Mike Vaccaro of New York Post recalled the performance that "Not only because she [Houston] was at her peak that January of 1991, not only because we were at war, but she hits the final note ('brave') in a different way than almost anyone else who's ever tried to sing it, and it is unforgettable," choosing it as his all time number-one favorite among the national anthems.

"[42] In March 2011, St. Petersburg Times' Tom Jones, in his article of memorable sporting events in Tampa Bay Area, recalled the Super Bowl XXV as follows: "the game was about more than football.

The United States was embroiled in the first Gulf War, and Whitney Houston, right, backed by the Florida Orchestra, produced goose bumps and tears with a powerful rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.

"[43] Whitney Houston's rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV was released as a single in the United States alone on February 12, 1991, during the Gulf War.

[63][64] On the Billboard October 27, 2001 issue, Houston set another historic Hot 100 record with "The Star Spangled Banner" which reached number six on the chart, becoming her 23rd and last top 10 hit.

[70] In the days following Houston's performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl XXV, a controversy arose when it was reported that she lip-synced to her own pre-recorded version of the song.

"[76] In 2001, Kathryn Holm McManus, former executive director of the orchestra, told the St. Petersburg Times that "everyone was playing, and Whitney was singing, but there were no live microphones.

[78] In slight contrast, Super Bowl engineer Larry Estrin told USA Today in 1991 that TV viewers actually heard the studio version of the song "plus her live voice, plus the audience reaction".

When Jennifer Hudson delivered a lip-syncing of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009, it caused some controversy.

Because the Super Bowl is primarily a television spectacle with a thousand moving parts, the producers years ago started asking to hear the anthem tracks a week before airtime, just so they would have one less potential variable.

[citation needed] That did not cause a problem until the performance was determined to release as a single and donate any proceeds to a war-related charity by Arista Records.

Holm demanded proper compensation from Arista for the contribution of the orchestra, then faced financial trouble and wanted a share of any profits from its Super Bowl performance, telling the Times that "Nobody anticipated the reaction, but part of the anthem's impact came from the arrangement behind it, so we believe our musicians deserve some restitution.

[83] On December 14, 2001, the Florida Orchestra sued Arista Records for royalties from copies of the song re-released after Sept. 11 and placed on a Whitney Houston Greatest Hits album and videocassette.

[83][84] Stone added that "the orchestra learned of the alleged contract breach after the anthem was reissued following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and quickly became a hot-selling single."

An Arista representative assured Jakes who claimed that the non-profit organization had not received quarterly royalty statements since mid-1992, that the issue could be settled without legal action.

Speaking later about the experience on The Oprah Winfrey Show, originally aired on April 5, 2004:[95] "Even more so than the Grammys, singing The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem, has always been a dream.

Lady Gaga, in an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN, answered the question about her mention of Houston's name in her Grammy award acceptance speech in 2011 that "Whitney was my major vocal inspiration when I was young.