According to Arista , Houston , who had been in the process of picking songs for the upcoming album with then Arista CEO L.A. Reid before September 11 attacks , shortly after the attack , decided to do her part to help the country recover by agreeing to have her 1991 rendition of " The Star Spangled Banner " re-released . So , it was reissued as a commercial CD single on September 26 , 2001 by Arista Records , with proceeds going to the New York Firefighters 9/11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Fraternal Order of Police ; the single also included her version of " America the Beautiful . " With releasing of the single , Reid said that " In a time of tragedy , Whitney Houston 's recording of our National Anthem has comforted and inspired our nation . " Houston 's rendition of " The Star Spangled Banner " has garnered acclaim since her performance . Hubert Mizell of '' St. Petersburg Times '' lauded her to the skies , saying " Whitney Houston brought down the house as the lady with the super pipes sang the Super Bowl 's most meaningful national anthem ever . " 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 . " '' Entertainment Weekly '' s Jess Cagle noted the specific circumstances , particularly a patriotic mood at the time , rather than the performance itself , stating that " Her Houston 's timing could n't be better : patriotism , thanks to the Iraqi war , is high , and Francis Scott Key 's 1814 ode to the flag is about to celebrate its 60th anniversary as our national anthem . The Gulf war fervor has turned Houston 's performance into an unlikely , overnight pop hit . " 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 , with screaming siren notes and blasts of feedback that suggested the chaos and carnage of Vietnam bombing raids . He was critical of the media which used Houston 's performance as a means of allowing the public to forget the violence of war , and the public 's unquestioning acceptance of that , stating " ' The Star-Spangled Banner ' memorializes ' bombs bursting in air , ' and the quiver in Ms. Houston 's voice finds seductiveness in the rockets ' red glare . But so far , despite the gleaming high-tech weapons paraded on the nightly news , the pop public has n't joined her . For the moment , it is keeping its distance and hoping the worst will be over soon . " 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 . " 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 . " 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 . " '' Los Angeles Times '' s J.A. 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 . " In February 2003 , '' Vibe '' , in a feature article in honor of Super Bowl XXVII , wrote that Houston 's performance was " sweet , sweaty and sensational , " choosing it as " Most Kleenex-Worthy Performance . " 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 . " Janet Mock of '' People '' magazine extolled her performance that " Houston gave one of the most iconic interpretations of the National Anthem in history . " Writing for MTV.com in February 2009 , Gil Kaufman said the song is a " legendary take on the National Anthem . " 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 . " Jenny Mayo of '' The Washington Times '' , in her review of Houston 's 2009 album '' I Look to You '' , praised the rendition highly : " Miss Houston is an artist who can — or at least used to — make songs untouchable . ' The Star Spangled Banner ' will never be the same . " Bill Lamb from About.com expressed that " Houston 's formidable power made her Super Bowl XXV ' Star Spangled Banner ' performance a legendary moment , " and on her biography by Lamb , also described it " as one of the most stunning televised performances ever . " Monica Herrera of '' Billboard '' called Houston 's performance an " epic take " , adding " Houston made it memorable . " Rushelle O'Shea of Yahoo! Sports called it " the most beautiful and most moving to have ever been performed at a sporting event " and recalled then " Leaving the crowd with tears in their eyes , she moved the hearts of many and received a well-earned standing ovation for this beautiful performance , " choosing the performance as one of ' The Top 10 Greatest Sports Songs of All Time ' . While commenting on Christina Aguilera 's performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl XLV , '' The Christian Science Monitor '' s Peter Grier drew comparisons between Houston 's version and Aguilera 's , writing " One thing is sure : She Aguilera was no Whitney Houston . Remember Ms. Houston ’s performance of ' The Star-Spangled Banner ' at the Super Bowl in 1991 ? Houston ... gave an emotional rendition of the song , and it remains one of her career highlights . " '' The Oxford Student '' s Abbas Panjwani wrote that " Houston ’s version is totally euphoric and boundless in energy . Nothing overly fancy . Just immense vocal talent . " Chris Willman from Yahoo! Music complimented on Houston 's version of the song that it " has n't aged " and " may remain the most highly regarded version of our lifetimes , " ranked second in his ' The 10 Best National Anthems Ever ' list . 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 . Both Jack Yacks and Gary Mills of '' The Florida Times-Union '' described the song as " the gold standard for national anthem performances . " 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 . It is one of the great Super Bowl moments . " 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 . The single debuted at number 32 on the '' Billboard '' Hot 100 Singles chart , the issue dated of March 9 , 1991 , becoming her highest first week chart entry at the time and the first rendition of the national anthem to appear on the chart since 1968 , when José Feliciano 's version during Game 5 pregame ceremonies of the 1968 World Series , climbed to number 50 . Her previous highest debut on the chart had been when " I Wan na Dance with Somebody ( Who Loves Me ) " entered the Hot 100 chart some six places lower at number 38 in May 1987 . The following week it leaped to number 25 , two weeks later peaked at number 20 on the chart in the March 30 , 1991 issue , making Houston the first and only artist to hit the Top 20 with the national anthem since 1958 , when the '' Billboard '' Hot 100 chart was published first , and spent a total of 11 weeks on the chart . The single was certified Gold for shipments of 500,000 copies and the video single was 2 × Platinum for shipping of 100,000 units , respectively , by the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) on April 11 , 1991 . " The Star Spangled Banner " became the fastest-selling single in Arista 's history at the time , with 750,000 copies sold in the first eight days
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston recording)