Aretha Franklin stole the show on Thanksgiving Day during the Thanksgiving Day football game between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings when she performed The National Anthem. She literally sang the song, while playing the piano and while an organist was playing gentle swells below, for almost five minutes long. She clocked out at four minutes and 35 seconds performing the song. She stole the show like the Queen of Soul always does!
According to Billboard, the topic of her rendition of The National Anthem was all over social media shortly after she was done performing it. Some Twitter users joked that they could cook a turkey, eat the turkey, and even do the dishes while she was performing. Others piped in on Twitter saying that she had gained the right to perform as long as she wanted.
Even the CBS Production team got in on the fun and jokes about how long Franklin performed the song. They posted an image on Twitter with a timeline of possession between the Vikings, the Lions, and the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin. The time of possession for the Vikings was 10 minutes and 43 seconds, the time of possession for the Lions was 14 minutes and 37 seconds, and the time of possession for Aretha Franklin performing The National Anthem was four minutes and 35 seconds.
NPR.org reports that The National Anthem has been a huge topic of discussion in the world of sports this year. One reason was because the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick brought on both strong criticism and lots of support when he refused to stand for The National Anthem before a pre-season game this past summer. He did this because he was protesting the oppression of minorities in the United States.
Since Kaepernick's protest, many performers who have been asked to perform The National Anthem have been showing signs of support for the same thing Kaepernick did. In fact, Denasia Lawrence, kneeling down performing the song, wore a Black Lives Matter t-shirt while singing. Also, a few days after Lawrence did this, R&B singer Sevyn Streeter was told she would not be allowed to wear a "We Matter" jersey while performing the song at the Philadelphia 76ers game. Although she was not allowed to wear the jersey while performing the song at that game, she is set to sing the song at the 76er's game on December 16, while wearing the jersey.
Aretha Franklin's performance of the song has been the longest one yet. It seemed like a form of her own protest as she took her time singing each word before the game was set to begin.
