Oceanside's ‘Anthem Girl’ Ali Berke to swap stadiums for Jones Beach Bandshell

Ali Berke, of Oceanside, will take a break from her quest to sing the national anthem at every Major League Baseball stadium to perform some of her own songs at the Jones Beach Bandshell on June 27.

The 23-year-old pop singer has been on a mission to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” at all 30 MLB parks across the country and in Canada, a feat no one else has accomplished. Berke was recently on the road again, singing the anthem in Oakland before the A’s-Houston Astros game on May 26, and in Miami before the Marlins-Texas Rangers game on June 2.

After her next scheduled set of performances, she will have sung at 14 of the 30 stadiums.

At Jones Beach, she will take the stage to perform original material for the first time since her mother, Debbie, died of cancer in July 2022. Ali has since dedicated her musical career to making her mother proud.

“It’s going to be a really, really important show for me,” she said. “They can expect a whole bunch of new music. We got a lot of dancing, a lot of vibing, with me and my dancers. We’ve been rehearsing like crazy to make it as special as possible, so we’re really excited.”

Berke found her recording studio, Loft Sound Studio, in Syosset, when she was 13. She sang the “The Star-Spangled Banner” for the first time at Citi Field, before a Mets-Phillies game in 2017. She has also performed at Citizens Bank Park, in Philadelphia, before a Phillies-Nationals game; at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, in Baltimore, before an Orioles-Blue Jays contest; at Fenway Park, in Boston, before a Dodgers-Red Sox game last August; and at a Brewers-Cubs game, at Milwaukee Brewers Stadium, on Oct. 1.

As her anthem performances opened doors to larger audiences, she had the chance to do the same with her own music. Berke has recorded more than 100 released and unreleased original songs, and plans to release more throughout the year.

“Performing has always been the biggest love of mine,” she said. “I love creating musical performances. I love to create stories, create songs and share them with others. It’s really empowering and makes me feel really good. I definitely missed the stage quite a lot.”

And her anthem ambitions aren’t limited to baseball. On June 9, She sang before the New York Liberty-Washington Mystics WNBA game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Three months earlier, she had taken center stage at Madison Square Garden to sing before a Knicks-Philadelphia 76ers game.

“Madison Square Garden was insane,” Berke recalled. “I’ve never been more nervous for something in my life. I was shaking during the sound check, but everything went super-well. It’s a bucket list item checked off. I’m very proud of myself for my performance. The only word that I could really use for that is just grateful.”

Her father, Jack Berke, a sports agent, handles the bookings for all of her performances, and came up with the idea for her to sing at every stadium, which inspired her nickname, Ali the Anthem Girl.

“She’s got a lot of excitement in her now,” her father said. “She’s seeing how all of the anthems are coming together, how she’s getting all this publicity, and people are paying attention.”

Just three days before her Jones Beach performance, she will be in San Diego on June 24 to sing the national anthem before the Padres-Nationals game, and she will be in Cincinnati on July 6 to perform before the Reds-Tigers matchup. Her anthem tour will continue into the fall when she is scheduled to sing at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Sept. 3, for the Cubs-Pirates game.

On Sept. 18 in Anaheim, California, she is set to sing before the Angels-White Sox matchup, and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” as well during the seventh-inning stretch. Ten days later she will sing in Washington, D.C., before the Nationals-Phillies tilt. And her father may come up with more bookings before the season ends.

The demands of her schedule are intense, often involving cross-country flights and tight performance windows. “We’re hopping planes, and I didn’t realize how exhausting it could be,” her father said. “She sings in Phoenix, catches a flight to Miami and performs again, all within 24 hours.”

Her rigorous routine includes not just performances but also rehearsals, fitness training and interviews.

“We’re also exploring opportunities for her to perform at local clubs and events,” Jack Berke said. “The goal is to get her music out there and maybe catch the eye of a record label.”

“It still is a goal to perform my own music,” she said. “The rest of the year, I just hope to keep this train going. Whether it’s doing anthems or doing live shows, keep pumping out music. I’m just really excited about everything coming up, and I plan to release a lot more music this year.”

Berke can be found on Instagram, and TikTok at Alitheanthemgirl and aliberkeofficial.