The Worst National Anthem Performances Ever

At the NBA All-Star Game in February 2018, Fergie attempted a jazzed-up rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Unfortunately, the former Black Eyed Peas singer's vocal runs, poor tune, and bizarre inflections butchered the song completely. Adding insult to aural injury, several NBA stars (most notably Draymond Green), as well as Chance The Rapper, Chris Rock, and Jimmy Kimmel, couldn't even contain their laughter during the performance.

Kimmel, who noted that he didn't realize he'd been on camera at the time, later addressed Fergie's singing on his show, stating, "Fergie gave an unusually sultry version of our national anthem." He added, "In Fergie's defense, we don't know what Francis Scott Key was thinking when he wrote the 'Star-Spangled Banner.' Maybe he wanted it to be sexy."

Following her cringeworthy performance, Fergie told The Hollywood Reporter, "I've always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA. I'm a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn't strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best."

Despite her apology, a source told Us Weekly, "Neither Fergie nor her team thought anything was wrong with her national anthem rendition. That's the way she sings a lot of her songs. She loves adding a little sexiness and being different with her riffs. It was meant to be jazz-inspired. She wanted to stand out."

Michael Bolton can serve vocals for days, but no one is immune to sound issues or sudden memory loss. While singing the national anthem ahead of a New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox game in 2003, a terrible echo in the stadium hindered Bolton's performance — and he didn't even try to hide it when he peeked at the lyrics he'd written on his hand.

At the NASCAR Ford 400 in November 2005, Creed frontman Scott Stapp snarled, slurred, and growled his way through the national anthem, ignoring most of the song's melody. At a Miami Marlins game in April 2010, he did slightly better. Slightly. Very slightly.

Carl Lewis is a talented man, and he has nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and ten World Championships medals (eight of them gold) in track and field to prove it. Unfortunately, his skill at runs on a track didn't translate to runs on his vocal cords, and when he performed the national anthem at a 1993 NBA game at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, it was a nightmare (via Deadspin). His voice cracked, his pitch was off, and he was so bad at one point that he actually told the audience, "Uh oh, I'll make up for it now." Spoiler alert: He didn't.

He later explained on Oprah's Where Are They Now, "I was actually under the weather and didn't want to do it ... I shouldn't have sang that day, but I'm actually glad it happened, because it's a part of your journey. And the great thing about it — kids will come and say, 'I saw your anthem and I didn't realize you were that fast!' Then other people will go and say, 'Hahaha, isn't that funny?' And if that's how you want to define me, that's your business."

Lewis added, "I've been on interviews and they'll just laugh it up and I'll say, 'Isn't it funny? My anthem 25 years ago has been seen by more people than your show.'"

Kat DeLuna has a good voice, but she audibly struggled with some of the high notes during her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Dallas Cowboys game in September 2008. It sounded as if she attempted to change registers towards the end of the song, but her overwrought vocal runs and head-twisting histrionics had already sealed her fate with the crowd, who booed her once she was finished.

The Fray tried to put their own spin on "The Star-Spangled Banner," completely reworking the song and keeping only Francis Scott Key's lyrics for their April 2012 performance at the NCAA title game. Unfortunately, it didn't work so well, with the guitarists' often not syncing up. The band was, at least, self-aware of the failure, tweeting (via Billboard), "Upon thinking about it, doing the national anthem is a bit like choosing between Jif and Skippy. You just can't please everyone."

Steven Tyler has one of the greatest voices in rock 'n' roll history, which is why it was so upsetting that he butchered the national anthem more than once. While performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 2001 Indy500, he deliberately switched up the lyrics and added way too much harmonica for most people's tastes.

He didn't fare much better in 2012, ahead of a New England Patriots football game.

He told the Associated Press of the criticism he received afterward, "I actually hit the notes so I don't even know what they're talking about. I emphasized 'free' for 'freedom,' which was well thought out prior to. I wasn't messing with American tradition, I am an American, I'm proud of it and I am most proud that we are free. Because I've been all over the rest of the world, and they are not in so many places. Freedom means a lot. And I nailed that note! So if they don't like it, too bad."

In July 1990, Roseanne Barr made a mockery of "The Star-Spangled Banner," complete with shrieking, giggling, crotch-grabbing, and even spitting on the pitcher's mound.

She would later tell Raw Dog on SiriusXM, "It wasn't a televised baseball game, and it was working woman's night, so I was America's most famous working woman ... I could sing well and I had practiced for a long time to sing it. The night before I sang it, I went on Johnny Carson again, and Johnny says, 'Now you be careful not to start too high.' ... So of course I started too high." She continued, "About six notes into it, I was like, 'Can I stop and start over?' but I knew I couldn't, and I knew there was no way I'm gonna make those high notes, so I just thought, 'What the Hell? I'm a comic, I'm gonna make it funny.' ... It was going from being a beloved person to being a despised and hated person overnight."

After all that, one would think that Barr would have some sympathy for other performers of the national anthem. But the comic still dissed Fergie for her 2018 NBA All-Star Game rendition, tweeting, "Who saw Fergie's national anthem performance at the NBA All Star Game? I think mine was better low-key."

We'll let fans decide that for themselves.