Zach Top Knocks National Anthem Out of the Park
Any country music fan worth their salt already knows who Zach Top is. He’s the guy at the apex of bringing back traditional country music in the popular space. It stands to reason that a whole lot more people now know who he is after he turned in a rather moving, soaring, and distinctly twangy performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” Sunday afternoon (1-25) ahead of the NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks.
There’s a reason Saving Country Music’s 2024 Artist of the Year, and the 2025 CMA New Artist of the Year was selected for National Anthem duties in Seattle. Zach Top is originally from Washington State and the town of Sunnyside where he grew up on a ranch. That made the 28-year-old a no brainer for the opportunity, and he hit it out of the park.
The song is hard enough to sing, especially to a national audience. Putting a signature, twangy spin on it is something else, especially since Zach had to hold his attention as the jet flyover came a shade too early. Despite suffering a little rasp for a second, it might be one of the greatest country renditions of the song we’ve ever heard, and Top earned high praise on social media—which as we know, can come for people’s head when the National Anthem is off, or even just average.
Traditional country fans can shout into a void that actual country music is still alive and well, and you just have to seek it out. But it’s a “moment” like Zach Top had on Sunday that reaches the masses. It’s the story of a hometown boy done good in Washington State.
A week from now, Zach Top might have another reason to celebrate. He’s up for the inaugural Best Traditional Country Album at the Grammy Awards.
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January 25, 2026 @ 7:22 pm
When I watched this – I don’t watch much NFL – I thought two things: 1) He really did a good job on this. Not OK, but very good, and 2) Is Trigger going to write about this because he really should.
This performance was mature and nuanced. He was under control but had enough style to make an impression without overwhelming us. Plus, it was respectful and had enough gravitas to leave us aging fans with a good feeling. It looks like he really put the effort into this performance and understood what was needed.
Overall, he played to his strengths as a vocalist and showed country fans and non-fans why he’s on the ascension. He represented himself and the genre well. He didn’t go out trying to show us he’s the Big F’ing Deal, which kind of made him the Big F’ing Deal. Hats off to Zach!
January 25, 2026 @ 7:51 pm
Only Zach Top could do the anthem with such ease and subtlety as to give us fans even more reason to admire him and make non-fans take notice.
He has brought one of the best eras of country music back to life in the most authentic way. He is cementing his name in history as one of the greatest country music artists ever.
#ZachTop #SavingCountryMusic #NationalAnthem
January 25, 2026 @ 8:24 pm
It was pretty good. I wasnt paying attention and i didnt recognize him since im not a huge fan but enjoy some of his music. My son pointed out who he was. Though he thought he sounded better there than with his actual songs. He might have a point.
January 25, 2026 @ 8:43 pm
Nice to see someone actually good.
I’m out on SB halftime but sure there will be write up on here about it
January 25, 2026 @ 8:53 pm
Absolutely perfect!!! The audio wasn’t even on as I was walking into the casino sportsbook, or it was so low I could barely hear it but I saw what I knew I’d hear later. A+ for our team.
January 25, 2026 @ 9:23 pm
Biggest country music star from Washington State to sing a patriotic song before a big nationally televised sporting event…
Until he’ll be eclipsed by Brandi Carlile… 2 weeks later in the very next football game to be played…
January 26, 2026 @ 12:29 am
I don’t think so. A football crowd does not seem like a Brandi Carlile type audience, and no one really has any idea why someone would be singing “America the Beautiful” before the game, anyway. Other than as way tfor the NFL to check the boxes so that a full DEI array of performers are presented.
January 26, 2026 @ 8:39 am
Brandi Carlile is a HELL of a singer and deserves a national spotlight. The NFL very well might have hired her to sing “America The Beautiful” because she’s a lesbian. Two things can be true at the same time.
January 26, 2026 @ 10:01 am
Playing or performing the National Anthem–the Star Spangled Banner–at baseball games and then all sporting events is a tradition that goes back to the two World Wars. Fans expect it and standing and showing respect for it is a tradition. In recent years they added the “Black National Anthem”–“Lift Every Voice.” Some people don’t like that, but given that most of the players are black–especially at the unglamorous O-line that protects the superstar QB–I wouldn’t challenge their right to that.
But what’s with all of a sudden playing “America the Beautiful”? Is it for the pacifists and others who think the “Star Spangled Banner” is too martial and bombastic? Or is it because the NFL wants to appeal to non-football fans? And why stop there? Why not bring someone else out to sing “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and someone else to sing “We Shall Overcome/”?
I guess they can get away with it at the Super Bowl because the tickets sell for thousands of dollars, so it’s not a regular crowd. Also, people have traveled from hundreds or thousands of miles away and are planning on spending the entire day and evening there and aren’t going anywhere.
But if they try that at a regular game that fans go to in the course of their week–“OK, we’re done with the National Anthem, but before we start the game, let’s have a woke singer regale us with “purple mountain majesty” and “amber waves of grain,” spectators would probably boo or throw cups of beer or worse on the field or court.
January 26, 2026 @ 12:27 pm
You have quite a bizarre notion of patriotism here. How is “America the Beautiful” a woke song? As for it being sung at sporting events, that started in the aftermath of 9/11. Sorry if celebrating America’s beauty after that attack offends you.
January 26, 2026 @ 5:22 pm
I mean, we could solve this whole “debate” by just getting rid of the anthem and similar songs (America The Beautiful, God Bless America, etc.) at sporting events. A baseball game or a football game is entertainment. We don’t play the anthem before Zach Top or Zach Bryan or Luke Combs take the stage. We don’t play the anthem before the start of a movie.
I get that will never happen, but count me in the camp that thinks the use of the anthem before some random Braves/Rays game in August is weird. Save fit for massive events like the Superbowl or World Series or after times of national crisis. I’m not sure it serves much purpose playing it ever.single.game.
January 26, 2026 @ 6:11 pm
Zach Top’s performance yesterday is the exact reason I continue to advocate for National Anthem performances, not as some sort of political or cultural stance, but because they are a very important stepping stone opportunities for up-and-coming artists, and can make careers. Reba McEntire was discovered singing the National Anthem, as were numerous others. Others MADE their career with a stellar performance, including perhaps Zach Top on Sunday. Even just singing it before the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball franchise in Nashville is a proving ground for country music talent coming up. It’s an avenue for artists to find the support and/or representation they deserve. And as long as it plays that role, I will continue to support it.
January 26, 2026 @ 12:39 pm
Now that Ashley McBryde has come out with a new song that hints at her LGBTQ+ preferences — a Jay Joyce power ballad, unfortunately — maybe we’ll get to hear her magnificent voice at sporting events, too.
January 26, 2026 @ 6:08 pm
I also wasnt saying Brandis performance will be better or worse than Zachs (although Im a huge Brandi fan), I was merely pointing out the super bowl is a bigger audience than the NFC championship game, which shouldn’t be a controversial statement
January 26, 2026 @ 8:57 am
The Superbowl transcends the “football audience”. It is a national/global event. People who literally aren’t even sports fans tune in to it.
I just point this out because the notion the Superbowl is not “the Brandi Carlisle” audience appears to not take into consideration that the Superbowl is very different than even the Championship games played yesterday in terms of both the target audience and the scope of said audience.
January 26, 2026 @ 10:52 am
Yeah. It’s their biggest opportunity to snag new viewers. The classic rock and country demo is already well aware of the NFL and either watches or intentionally chooses not to.
January 27, 2026 @ 10:14 am
Your comment is spot on but will not be appreciated here by some.
January 25, 2026 @ 11:38 pm
I love ZT! His version of Hard Candy Christmas is hauntingly beautiful and he brings back that cool 90s country sound.
January 26, 2026 @ 12:42 am
As someone who generally likes but overall hasn’t been blown away by Top’s vocal performances on record thus far…………..I was genuinely impressed by his performance here myself. =)
This only reinforces my hunch that Top has yet to really play to his ceiling both as a songwriter and a vocalist, and the potential for his catalog to only continue to mature and improve from here on out is very real. I certainly hope he kicks into another gear creatively with his third studio album as “Ain’t In It For My Health”………….though exquisitely produced, having top-tier instrumentation and having some moving moments particularly with songs like “When You See Me”and “Between The Ditches”…………..still left a bit to be desired for me in how safe it played it lyrically and thematically.
January 26, 2026 @ 5:03 am
In the words of the great Mel Torme, Zach Top is TOPS
January 26, 2026 @ 7:31 am
I think something else ZT could possibly bring back to radio is men who can actually sing. Hopefully he starts a trend where the male stars actually have vocal talent that should be necessary to be stars.
January 26, 2026 @ 7:43 am
Nathaniel Rateliff did the anthem before the AFC game (Go Pats!) and delivered an understated rendition.
January 26, 2026 @ 9:35 am
Yes!….this one was on par with Zach Top IMOH. He puts on a hell of a concert too.
January 26, 2026 @ 8:51 am
Fine job,ZT!
January 26, 2026 @ 12:16 pm
I like ZT’s performance of the national anthem even better than Chris Stapleton’s soulful rendition at Super Bowl LVII (2023)–and that’s saying something!
January 27, 2026 @ 12:16 pm
This article says “Generated by AI”… If you are going to be doing that Trigger..then I’m quitting you . Sorry.. I love following you (But not AI)
January 27, 2026 @ 12:38 pm
I have no clue what you’re talking about. No other music website has taken a harder stance against AI than this one. No AI was used here, and not sure where you’re seeing that. But it’s certainly not from me.
January 29, 2026 @ 7:51 am
Crushed it! Such a hard song, glad it was distinctly him and so well done.
January 31, 2026 @ 1:09 am
I’d like to hear what he can do with “To Anacreon in Heaven”!!!!