Brad Paisley Extends His Tradition of Playing National Anthem Prior to World Series Games With Extra Innings

Need an early indication that a World Series game at Dodger Stadium is going to extend late into the evening? Seeing Brad Paisley step up to perform the national anthem just might be a clue.

The country artist performed the U.S. national anthem at Dodger Stadium preceding a matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night (Oct. 27), and the game ended in extra innings — marking the fourth time a World Series game with Paisley playing the national anthem went into extra innings, according to Major League Baseball. This time, during the 18th inning, the Dodgers pulled ahead for a 6-5 victory.

Paisley now has been the anthem singer prior to both of the World Series’ longest games, which each ending in 18 innings.

Each of the four times Paisley has played the national anthem prior to a World Series Game, the game has gone into extra innings. Paisley sang the anthem last year for Game 1 of the World Series, a matchup between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees that lasted 10 innings. In 2018, he performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Game 3 of the World Series, prior to a game between the Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox; that game lasted 18 innings. In 2017, he sang the national anthem for the first time at the World Series, in Game 2 before a match between the Dodgers and the Houston Astros, which went for 11 innings.

Though Paisley has yet to comment on his seeming penchant of playing before extended games, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, his wife and actress, chimed in on social media, commenting on a video of the country singer playing the anthem before the game, which also happened to take place the day before his 53rd birthday on Oct. 28.

“Is it your fault it went 18 innings again? Nice of the @dodgers to win for your birthday!” Williams-Paisley wrote.

Some of Williams-Paisley’s fellow Hallmark Channel actors also chimed in, including Kris Polaha, who commented with fire emojis, and Tyler Hynes, who wrote, “Knew he was a Jays fan.”

Paisley has just added a slate of European dates to his tour for 2026, including stops in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. He is also set to release the holiday album, Snow Globe Town, on Nov. 7.