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Women of Color Sang Before Super Bowl. NBC Mixed Them Up

Caption confused Mickey Guyton, Jhene Aiko

(Newser) - Jhené Aiko performed "America the Beautiful" before Super Bowl LVI Sunday, followed by Mickey Guyton singing the national anthem—but NBC mixed up the two women of color, captioning Guyton as Aiko during the broadcast. Uproar on social media was swift, Yahoo News reports. "All black folks don'...

Olympian Hammer Thrower Turns From Flag During Anthem

Gwen Berry says she's an activist athlete standing up for the Black community

(Newser) - For the past week, they've played the national anthem one time per evening at the US Olympic track and field trials. On Saturday, the song started while outspoken activist Gwen Berry was standing on the podium after receiving her bronze medal in the hammer throw. While the music played,...

Team Replaces National Anthem With Inclusive Classic

Tulsa Athletic to play 'This Land Is Your Land' instead

(Newser) - The third verse of the "Star-Spangled Banner" isn't sung publicly often. But among the little-known words are "No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave." The Tulsa Athletic has decided that's not the...

Drew Brees Tries Apologizing Again
Drew Brees
Apologizes
Yet Again
Jun 5, 2020 1:34 AM CDT

Drew Brees Apologizes Yet Again

New Orleans Saints quarterback still under fire after his first apology

(Newser) - Drew Brees' first apology didn't go over well with everyone , and now the New Orleans Saints quarterback is trying again. "I know there’s not much that I can say that would make things any better right now, but I just want you to see in my eyes...

Watch Rita Wilson's Comeback Performance

She sings national anthem after recovering from coronavirus

(Newser) - Rita Wilson made her coronavirus comeback Sunday, singing the national anthem to open a virtual NASCAR event. Wilson, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 almost four weeks ago and has since recovered, performed at her Los Angeles home and was filmed by her and Tom Hanks' youngest son, Truman, 24. As...

An Old Comment Keeps the Trump-Rapinoe Story Alive
Trump Has More to Say
About Megan Rapinoe
the rundown
Jun 26, 2019 11:45 AM CDT

Trump Has More to Say About Megan Rapinoe

After a line she uttered in May is shared, the president responds on Twitter

(Newser) - The war of words between President Trump and Megan Rapinoe got some new life breathed into it on Wednesday, thanks to a weeks-old comment. Things first got testy after the co-captain of the US women's soccer team carried her team to the World Cup quarterfinals on Monday. Trump was...

John Legend: National Anthem Is 'Weak' Anyway

And it celebrates slavery, he tweets

(Newser) - John Legend is backing Colin Kaepernick in his national anthem protest : In fact, Legend says, the "Star-Spangled Banner" shouldn't even be our anthem. "For those defending the current anthem, do you really truly love that song? I don't and I'm very good at singing it....

Museum Looking for Patches of 'Star-Spangled Banner'

Bits of original flag were given away as keepsakes long ago

(Newser) - If you happen to find some remnants of woven wool in your attic—in red, white or blue and marked Fort McHenry—the Smithsonian Institution would like to know. Two hundred years after a massive flag was hoisted over the fort in Baltimore that withstood a British attack, Americans from...

Book Reveals Francis Scott Key's Bigoted Side

'Star Spangled Banner' author had mixed record on race

(Newser) - Francis Scott Key, member of President Andrew Jackson's "Kitchen Cabinet" who also served as the US attorney for the District of Columbia, is probably best known for penning the lyrics to the "Star Spangled Banner" 200 years ago. (He borrowed the melody from an English tune popular...

Beyonce Lip-Synced Inauguration: Marine Band

That whole earpiece-ripping thing? All part of the act

(Newser) - Many inauguration watchers were impressed when Beyonce ripped out her earpiece while performing the national anthem—appearing to be the victim of audio problems—yet still nailed the song. Except, er, she wasn't actually singing the song. A Marine Corps Band spokesperson tells TMZ and the UK Times that...

Steven Tyler Screeches Anthem as Bad as Rest of Us

'A+ for Effort,' says Gawker

(Newser) - Dude might look like a lady, but he certainly doesn't sing like a diva. Steven Tyler sang his "unique" interpretation of the "Star-Spangled Banner" at the AFC championship game yesterday, eschewing high notes for a throaty screech, reports Gawker . "Steven definitely deserves an A+ for effort...

Law Would Fine Singers for Altering National Anthem

Indiana bill would cover all public school performances

(Newser) - An Indiana lawmaker is sick of hearing the national anthem parodied, and she's proposing a law to ban such alterations. The bill would set a $25 fine payable by any singer who doesn't meet "performance standards" when belting out the tune at an event at a public...

Can We Stop Butchering the National Anthem?

Let's ditch the 'insufferable freestyle flourishes': Raymond Cummings

(Newser) - Why must every sports game begin with vocalists wailing their way through the national anthem? It’s a powerful song, but “there’s no reason” it needs to “last five endless minutes and arrive full of insufferable freestyle flourishes,” writes Raymond Cummings at SpliceToday . Trouble is, no...

Cyndi Lauper Flubs Anthem at US Open
 Cyndi Lauper Flubs 
 Anthem at US Open 
DURING 9/11 TRIBUTE
Sep 11, 2011 6:09 AM CDT

Cyndi Lauper Flubs Anthem at US Open

Ceremony marred by Lauper's unforced error

(Newser) - This time, apparently the Goonies weren't good enough. Singer Cyndi Lauper flubbed the national anthem at the US Open women's semifinals, in a ceremony honoring 9/11 victims. After a moment of silence, and as an honor guard marched, Lauper did a mash-up of lines from the anthem, changing...

Mennonite College Bans National Anthem

School should look to "Christ rather than country," says board

(Newser) - A Mennonite college will stop playing the national anthem at sports events, after some complained that the song violated pacifist ideals; the Indiana school’s board of directors said the college’s “allegiance should be to Christ rather than to country,” the Religion News Service reports via Huffington...

So, Do You Actually Know the National Anthem?

Aguilera takes flak, but most Americans don't know lyrics

(Newser) - OK, so by this point pretty much every American knows that Christina Aguilera butchered the national anthem. But could you do any better? The Daily Beast set to find out by asking a random sampling of Americans (living in the "random, well-educated, professional city" of Portland) to sing the...

16 Stories