After Flavor Flav sang his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” fans are split on where to place his performance in the history of other celebrity performances.
The National Anthem is a staple in American culture and it is played before every sporting event. The vocal capabilities of the person or people who perform it are under massive amounts of scrutiny as entire stadiums or arenas of fans quietly listen to them belt out the song’s lyrics.
Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye and more have all lent their talents to sing many iconic versions of the anthem. There have also been infamous moments where people like Roseanne Barr, Chaka Khan and Carl Lewis tried their hand at the song.
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A good performance can give fans fond memories for years to come, but a bad one can get the singer relentlessly lambasted on social media. In 2023, there have already been star-led renditions, like Chris Stapleton at the Super Bowl, and meme-worthy performances like former NFL player DeMarcus Ware at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.
Flavor Flav added his take on the National Anthem, during an Oct. 29 NBA matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks. The hip-hop icon poured his heart and soul into his two-minute and 40-second rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The crowd had a mixed reaction as some fans looked stone-faced, while others appeared to be on the verge of laughter. Social media users were just as divided as the people in attendance, as they argued over Flav’s performance.
Some fans were pleasantly surprised by the 64-year-old’s singing ability. One fan said, “I mean… so… he’s in the key and held it down, as a non-singing entertainer, I ain’t even mad frfr.” Another fan said, “Honestly.. it was better than Fergie’s so there’s that,” in reference to the Black Eyed Peas’ singer’s infamous rendition.
Others called out the hypeman’s performance. One fan claimed that he was the cause of the Bucks losing the game, saying, “Yeah nahhh I’m blaming him on why my parlay didn’t hit.”
50 Cent even joined in on the roast saying, “WTF I think this means we going to war, this is a sign fvck it get the strap !”
One question that people who praised him and people who clowned him asked was why he was chosen. One fan suggested a documentary be created to explain to others why. The comment said, “We need a 3-part doc about how some Bucks exec heard Flavor Flav’s voice and decided he would be a great option to sing the national anthem.”
The documentary won’t be needed as the man himself came forward and explained how he ended up singing the song.
Flav said in a reply to a fan comment that he “asked if he could sing the anthem because it’s something he’s wanted to do his “whole life.” In a separate X post, the “Flavor of Love” star gave further reasoning behind his decision.
“The anthem was a long time bucket list item,” Flav wrote, adding, “that was fun!” He said he won’t live his life “worried about what people might say” about him. The former reality star said that he wasn’t going to let other people stop him from doing what he wanted because “failure is if you stop trying.”
The anthem was a long time bucket list item,,, that was fun!
— FLAVOR FLAV 6/9 + 8/7 (@FlavorFlav) October 30, 2023
I can’t live my life worried about what people might say about me. I won’t let that stop me from trying new things and doing things I wanna do. Some people might not like that. But a sure failure is if you stop trying.
After the performance, Flav took photos of some of his fans, including a young boy who held a sign that read, “Flavor Flav my Mom says Hi.”
As for the game, the Bucks ended up losing to the Hawks in a score of 127-110.
