What tune was used for the music of the United States national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”?

The music of the United States national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” uses the tune of “The Anacreontic Song.”

The tune was composed by English musician John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, an eighteenth-century gentlemen’s music club in London. The song was also known by its opening words, “To Anacreon in Heaven.”

Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became “The Star-Spangled Banner” after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in September 1814. The poem was originally titled “Defence of Fort M'Henry,” and its words were fitted to the already familiar melody.

The song became increasingly popular in the United States before Congress officially designated it as the national anthem on March 3, 1931. The anthem’s melody therefore began as a British social club song before becoming associated with American national identity.