The music for “The Star-Spangled Banner” was written by British composer John Stafford Smith.

Quick Scoop: Short Answer

  • The tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner” comes from a British song called “To Anacreon in Heaven,” composed in the late 18th century by John Stafford Smith for London’s Anacreontic Society, a gentlemen’s musical club.
  • Francis Scott Key later wrote the lyrics (originally the poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry”) in 1814, which were then set to Smith’s existing melody.

A Little Background

  • John Stafford Smith was an English composer and organist associated with the Chapel Royal in London, and his melody was originally a convivial club song rather than a patriotic anthem.
  • Over time, the tune crossed the Atlantic, became popular in the United States, and, once paired with Key’s words, evolved into the American national anthem formally adopted in 1931.

TL;DR: The lyrics were by Francis Scott Key, but the music for “The Star-Spangled Banner” was composed by John Stafford Smith.

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