Facts and Figures

  • The 300 member Spartan Band is one of the oldest and most recognized university marching bands in the country.

  • The Spartan Band was founded in 1870 as a 10-member student group. All of the original members were civil war veterans.

  • The Spartan Band was a military unit connected with the college ROTC for most of its existence. Until 1952, the band members wore military khaki uniforms. When MSU began playing Big 10 Conference football in 1952, the band received its first green and white uniforms. Most of the strict military uniform codes are still adhered to today with squad leaders holding routine inspections before every performance.

  • No flutes or clarinets are used in the Spartan Band, as these instruments are difficult to hear in the large Big Ten stadiums. Instead, E-flat cornets play the high "woodwind-like" parts.

  • Five U.S. Presidents have been entertained by the Spartan Band: Theodore Roosevelt (1907), Herbert Hoover (1930), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936), Lyndon Johnson (1965), and Bill Clinton (1996 & 2000).

  • The Spartan Band has performed at four Rose Bowls: 1954, 1956, 1966, 1988.

  • Other bowl appearances for the Spartan Band include: 2000 Citrus Bowl (Orlando, FL), 1997 Aloha Bowl (Honolulu, HI), 1996 Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX), 1995 Independence Bowl (Schreveport, LA), 1993 St. Jude Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN), 1990 John Hancock Bowl (El Paso, TX), 1989 Mazda Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL), 1985 All-American Bowl (Birmingham, AL), and 1984 Michigan Cherry Bowl (Pontiac, MI).

  • The Spartan Band has performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair, the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair, and in Tokyo, Japan for the 1993 Coca-Cola Bowl.

  • The Spartan Band performed at the 1984 World Series to cheer the Detroit Tigers to victory.

  • The Spartan Band was the 1988 recipient of the Louis Sudler Trophy for collegiate marching bands, administered by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.

  • The Spartan Band has toured the United States, winning the hearts of band fans everywhere. The band has appeared in concert and on football fields in such far-flung cities as San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, St. Louis, Denver, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Tokyo, Tucson, San Diego and Washington, D.C.

  • The Spartan Marching Band was selected by ABC Sports to record the 1995 "ABC College Football Theme Music" in June of 1995.