Who wrote the music for “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the U.S. national anthem?

John Stafford Smith wrote the music for “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the U.S. national anthem.

The melody was originally a British social-club song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Smith, an English composer and church musician, is credited with composing or arranging the tune in the late 18th century. The melody was already known in the United States before it became associated with the anthem.

Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics in 1814 after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. His poem was titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and was published with the instruction that it be sung to the tune of “Anacreon in Heaven.”

Congress designated “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem in 1931. A common mix-up is crediting Key with both words and music: Key wrote the lyrics, while Smith supplied the melody. The anthem’s four-stanza original is rarely performed in full; the first stanza is the version most commonly sung.