Former Macon resident to sing national anthem at Democratic National Convention

A former Macon resident who captured the nation’s attention with her rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Lincoln Memorial last month is scheduled to perform on a much larger stage Thursday night.

G. Star Swain, formerly of Macon, is set to sing the national anthem to open Thursday’s events at the Democratic National Convention. The event will be nationally televised.

Hillary Clinton is set to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president Thursday, a historic first for a woman.

Swain’s rise to prominence has been meteoric. After friends urged her to sing the national anthem in Washington, D.C., last month, a video of the performance has drawn more than 877,000 views on YouTube and more than 35 million views on Facebook. Since then, the Florida assistant principal has sung on several national programs.

Swain sang on “Good Morning America” and for HBO’s world title boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena between Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol. She also recently finished a video shoot for an upcoming single, “Home of the Brave.”

This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Former Macon resident to sing national anthem at Democratic National Convention."