Alicia Keys Sings Longest Super Bowl National Anthem In Recent History

alicia keys

» by Latifah Muhammad (@TheLatifah) February 4, 2013, 11:57am

If Alicia Keys' Super Bowl rendition of the National Anthem  felt super long, that's because it was. The songstress and her  piano came out on the field of the New Orleans Superdome to stretch out the lyrics for nearly three full minutes, making it the longest in recent history.

Keys' National Anthem was 156.4 second long, surpassing that of previous record-holder, Natalie Cole. In 1994 Cole's Super Bowl performance finished at 152 seconds.

The 32-year-old's performance was preceded by Jennifer Hudson, and students from Sandy Hook Elementary School singing America the Beautiful, and followed by Beyoncé. Mrs. Carter took the stage for the more than 12-minute long set featuring Destiny's Child members, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.

In acknowledgement of five Black women performing at the Super Bowl, Beyoncé posted a message to the women on her website. “What a proud day for African American women!!!!” she wrote before addressing all the performers by name. “You are all beautiful, talented and showed so much class. It was an honor to perform at the Super Bowl with you phenomenal ladies.”

Aside from her Super Bowl gig, the last weeks have offered two big announcements involving Keys. She was recently announced as global creative director of Blackberry.

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Photo: Robert Deutsch

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