30 years ago in 1993, Garth Brooks performed the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, but it almost didn’t happen. Garth wanted to debut his video for 'We Shall Be Free' during the broadcast. The song was written in response to the LA riots following the Rodney King verdict in 1992.  The network decided that the video was too controversial, so Garth left the stadium just 45 minutes before kickoff.  In addition, Garth denied the network's request to pre-record his performance of the anthem. According to the book "The Making of the Super Bowl: The Inside Story of the World's Greatest Sporting Event" Garth ended up winning the argument and performed the anthem, but America's biggest sports event was delayed for the first time in its history to show his video. Since this incident, the NFL has now made it a requirement that all Super Bowl performances of the anthem are pre-recorded. 

You can check out his performance here: https://youtu.be/_0xAlYYZni4

ARTICLE PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

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