Washington, D.C. -- In a nail-biting race to the finish line, The Marines’ Hymn was crowned the victorious winner of Sousa’s 2025 March Mania, and John Philip Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis” walked away in defeat.
During March, “The President’s Own” hosted “Sousa’s March Mania,” a tournament pitting 32 marches against each other for the Marine Band community to determine which one is the favorite.
This year, the Marine Band reached over 200,000 students at more than 1,700 schools across the U.S. who signed up to participate in the competition. Over 255,000 combined votes drove the competition, with students and patrons across the country voting daily for their favorite marches in the course of four weeks.
This year’s competition resulted in quite a few tight matches! For example, “Invercargill” won by 75 votes in a tough battle against “Waltzing Matilda.”
However, sometimes the competition didn’t stand a chance. In the first round, “H.M. Jollies” lost by over 7,000 votes to “American Patrol” – the largest victory of the season. And in the closest margin in the whole bracket, “March of the Leathernecks” won by only 44 votes over “March of the Belgian Parachutists.”
The Marines’ Hymn was faithful ‘til the end with the final votes tallying 7,931 to 5,781. It faced a few tough fights from the get-go, narrowly escaping with a victory against “Bullets and Bayonets” in Sousa’s Sixteen on its path to the crown.
The continued success of The Marines’ Hymn delighted many Marines at the Barracks.
Staff Sgt. Tucker Broadbooks said, “In all the years of Sousa’s March Mania history, we have yet to see Semper Fidelis’ and The Marines’ Hymn together in the championship. As a Marine, it makes me proud to see these great pieces of Marine Corps history make it this far into the competition, even more so to the final round!”
Participants also had a lot to say about the final match-up. Brian Moore said, “Nothing less for the Marine [Corps]’ 250th birthday.” We agree, Brian!
Robert Ragan said, “As a former member of the 2nd Marine Division Band and MCRD San Diego Band, this is awesome. Semper Fidelis.” Oorah, Robert!
Even though many were happy to see these two songs make it to the final round, the result of the match still ruffled some feathers. Renee King said, “We had to have seen this coming, right?” There’s always next year, Renee.
Whether your bracket was busted or you guessed it all the way to the end, we’re hopeful that you enjoyed the suspense.
We’d like to extend a sincere “thank you” to everyone who participated in this year’s Sousa’s March Mania. We can’t wait to see who takes the crown in 2026! Semper Fi.
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