Aretha Franklin Stretches the National Anthem to 4.5 Minutes

It was a 'church spiritual'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2016 7:24 AM CST

Americans were reminded of one more thing to be thankful for on Thursday: Aretha Franklin. In what caused a "Twitter meltdown," per CBS Sports, Franklin sang the national anthem ahead of the Detroit Lions' game against the Minnesota Vikings and stretched the song into an incredible "4-minute, 35-second-long church spiritual," per NBC News. The national anthem performance at the Super Bowl is typically expected to take about two minutes.

One Twitter user joked that "I cooked my whole turkey, ate, and did the dishes" during the performance, while another said it was a wonder Franklin didn't get a delay of game penalty. At one point in the game, CBS even included Franklin in a graphic showing time of possession on the field. But fans at the stadium were thrilled, applauding several times throughout the performance, per People. The Lions went on to win the game 16-13. (More Aretha Franklin stories.)

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