The Star-Spangled Banner is ... anthem below. The music was written by British composer and early musicologist John Stafford Smith around 1773, but remained lyric-less until 1814, when American lawyer ...
Like so many famous songs of yore, "The Star-Spangled Banner" started as a poem, called “The Defence of Fort McHenry.” It was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 during the War of 1812.