Super Bowl 50: Watch Lady Gaga's breathtaking rendition of the Star Spangled Banner

'Oh, say can you see...'

Lady Gaga singing the Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl (Getty)

Moments before Super Bowl 50 finally kicked off in Santa Clara, it was up to Lady Gaga to get the United States in a patriotic mood by singing their National Anthem.

Dressed all in red and with bleached blonde hair, the grammy award winning singer belted out the Star Spangled Banner to the world, almost bringing tears to many footballers’ eyes and setting the crowd on fire.

“I’ve always wanted to sing the National Anthem at a major sporting event since I was a little girl, and for it to be the Super Bowl, it is the ultimate,” she said before the performance. Watch below.

Speaking about the performances that inspired her own take on the Spangled Banner, Gaga said: “For me, it was Whitney Houston. When I was little, I used to stand at the top of my staircase and sing along with her version.

“At home, the more I would sing it, the more my dad would say, ‘You’re getting pretty good, kid.’ So to be here now and to sing it to America, it’s just wonderful.”

Also performing at Super Bowl 50 were Beyonce, Coldplay and Bruno Mars, whose performance was - as put in one delicately written headline - an incoherent mess.