(Nashua, NH) — For Alan St. Louis, the path to a world record began with a joke. St. Louis likes to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and after singing it several times in public, someone told him he’d break the world record if he kept doing it.

After discovering that the “Guinness Book of World Records” had no official category for “Most National Anthems Sung in One Year,” St. Louis began singing the anthem everywhere he could get an invite.

On Saturday, the New Hampshire resident brought his 365-day record to a conclusion after singing the anthem 217 times.

St. Louis says he sang to crowds of as little as five people up to a crowd of nearly 12-thousand. Now all he has to do is apply to “Guinness” for the official world record category.