WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Twenty-two percent of Americans think veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen should compose a new U.S. national anthem to replace “The Star-Spangled Banner,” suggests an online poll released Monday.
That’s more than the 19 percent who think country legend Dolly Parton is up to the task, or the 18 percent who favor soulman Stevie Wonder, according to the poll for the CBS current affairs show “60 Minutes” and Vanity Fair magazine.
Eleven percent named venerable singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, 10 percent favor movie soundtrack composer John Williams, 8 percent voted for rapper Jay-Z and 5 percent named pop diva Madonna.
Pollsters telephoned a random sample of 1,026 adults nationwide between April 27 and 30 for the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Based on a poem by Francis Scott Key describing the British naval bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland during the War of 1812, “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been the official U.S. national anthem since 1931.