“O say can you see . . . my home and native land?”
Jeff Jimerson, who has a fan in RI President Stephanie Urchick, prepares to serenade two countries in Calgary
Jeff Jimerson was at home following the tragic news out of Ottawa when he got the call. That night he would be singing two national anthems.
On certain nights, there’d be nothing unusual about that. For nearly 25 years, Jimerson had been singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Pittsburgh Penguins hockey games. When the Penguins faced off against a team from Canada, he would also sing “O Canada,” the Canadian national anthem.
That night, 22 October 2014, the Penguins were slated to play the Philadelphia Flyers, which typically would have meant only the one anthem. But there was nothing typical about what had happened that morning in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. Corporal Nathan Cirillion had been fatally shot while standing ceremonial sentry duty at the National War Memorial. The gunman was also killed after he ran into the Parliament buildings brandishing a rifle.
In Toronto, the Maple Leafs had been scheduled to play the Ottawa Senators; that game was postponed. In Pittsburgh, Penguins management opted to play their scheduled game but wanted to pay tribute to the slain Canadian soldier. That’s when the call went out to Jimerson.
“That was a pretty intense moment,” Jimerson recalls of singing “O Canada” that October evening 11 years ago. “It was really emotional. I didn’t realize until after just how much that meant to the Canadian citizenry. It made me realize how important the anthem is. Sometimes it could take on a whole different meaning than just being part of the pregame hype.”
His understanding of the emotional nuances that underlie both national anthems, as well as the fact that he possesses a tremendous set of pipes, makes it clear why RI President Stephanie Urchick chose Jimerson — or as he’s known in the local parlance, “the Pittsburgh Penguins’ own Mister Jeff Jimerson!!!” — to sing “O Canada” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Calgary at the 2025 Rotary International Convention.
As the longtime anthem singer for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jeff Jimerson has performed at four Stanley Cup finals.
Photo by Dave Sandford/NHL via Getty Images
Ask Jimerson how he became a musician, and his answer reflects an experience shared by an entire generation. “Like a lot of musicians my age,” he says, “I saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, and I thought, that’s what I want to do.” That occurred when Jimerson was in grade school, and by his reckoning, he’s been in bands ever since. In 1990 he and other local musicians formed Airborne, and 35 years later, that band is still together. They’re also the reason Jimerson got the Penguins gig.
During the 1990-91 hockey season, Airborne was asked to play at the after-party following a celebrity hockey game. Jimerson also sang the national anthem before the game, and Tinsy Labrie, then the Penguins’ VP of marketing, liked what she heard. “She said, ‘You do a nice job,’” remembers Jimerson. “‘You should come down and do a Penguins game sometime.’” Which he did, and eventually sometime became all the time.
The Penguins went to the Stanley Cup Final that season, but since Jimerson was the new kid and a part-timer, he didn’t get to sing the anthem before any of those games. The team returned to the final following the 1991-92 season, and Jimerson figured that was his year — until he got upstaged by a local 12-year-old sensation named Christina Aguilera, who sang the anthem at the only two Stanley Cup Final games played in Pittsburgh.
Don’t shed any tears for Jimerson. He sang the anthem at four subsequent Stanley Cup finals — and in three of those season-ending contests, the Penguins emerged as NHL champions. “I’m the luckiest Pittsburgh Penguin fan in the city,” Jimerson acknowledges. “To do what I do for such a successful team with so many iconic players for such a long time — I pinch myself. I never take it for granted.”
What’s more, Jimerson fulfilled his boyhood dream: singing in front of thousands of screaming fans at the Civic Arena, where the Penguins played until 2010. “Nobody’s performed there more times than I have,” says Jimerson — and he probably holds that same record for the PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins’ current home.
Now it’s on to the Scotiabank Saddledome, home to the Calgary Flames and, from 21-25 June, the Rotary Convention. It’s enough to make even a seasoned veteran a little anxious. “Airborne plays a local Rotary spring dinner dance every year,” Jimerson explains, but after accepting the Calgary gig, “I started looking on the website and seeing all the stuff Rotary does. It’s making me nervous.”
Deep breath, Jeff. Be it by the dawn’s early light or with glowing hearts, Stephanie Urchick and all of Rotary are confident your Calgary rendition of “O Canada” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” will make both countries proud. Remember, the Beatles played the Civic Arena only once, and things seem to have turned out OK for them.