Well, it does not happen very often…..but we have a performance of the Star Spangled Banner at the 1986 Major League Baseball All Star Game….and we have no idea who the lady singing is….albeit she has a nice voice…..so if any of our visitors here at ImaSportsphile can help us with her identification….we would be most appreciative.
“O Canada“ is the national anthem of Canada….as the song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony….of which Calixa Lavallée composed the music…..and then words were written by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The original lyrics were in French….with an English translation was published in 1906….as multiple English versions ensued….with Robert Stanley Weir’s version in 1908 gaining the most popularity….and eventually serving as the basis for the official lyrics enacted by Parliament. Weir’s lyrics have been revised three times….with the most recent being when An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender) was enacted in 2018. The French lyrics remain unaltered…..as “O Canada” had served as a de facto national anthem since 1939….while officially becoming the country’s national anthem in 1980 when Canada’s National Anthem Act received royal assent….and became effective on July 1 as part of that year’s Dominion Day (now known as Canada Day) celebrations.
