Fans at the Men’s NCAA National Championship game heard a stunning rendition of the National Anthem while fans at home were wondering just who it was that gave them such a great performance.
Retired Sargeant Stuns With National Anthem At Final Four
The sold-out Alamodome in San Antonio was the setting for the performance ahead of the national championship game between the University of Houston and the University of Florida. Retired Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Carter had the honor of singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Carter’s performance drew a strong response from the 31,900 fans in attendance, standing before the U.S. military color guard. The crowd began cheering before he even finished and gave him a loud ovation after the final note.
Carter is no stranger to performing. He began playing drums at age 6, but it wasn’t until high school that he discovered his passion for singing—after a moment during a senior-year performance of “Any Dream Will Do” from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, when he briefly forgot the lyrics.
“Instead of just stopping, I admitted to the audience in the same melody that I’d forgotten the words,” Carter recalled with a laugh during an interview at Osan Air Base in South Korea. “Once it came back to me, I went right back into the song. The audience just started laughing. That’s when I knew—I’m supposed to be on stage.”
Carter’s musical interests followed him through his Air Force career. He once auditioned for NBC’s America’s Got Talent and performed with Tops In Blue, the Air Force’s expeditionary entertainment unit. He also opened for the country music group Alabama and has sung the anthem at several NFL and college football games, including the Salute to Service game between the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers in November 2022.
Watch: National Anthem Sung by Master Sgt. Robert Carter
The video of Sgt. Carter’s anthem surely explains why fans were so moved.
The National Anthem 🇺🇸
Robert Carter, retired Air Force Master Sergeant, sang the National Anthem ahead of tonight’s championship. #MFinalFour pic.twitter.com/X9sxDpK83u
— NCAA Men’s Final Four (@MFinalFour) April 8, 2025
Carter’s anthem kicked off the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship in truly remarkable fashion.
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Fans could only hope that the action on the court thereafter could match it.
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