Fergie's National Anthem

Overview

Fergie's National Anthem refers to a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by pop singer Fergie at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game that was widely criticized and mocked for the singer's bizarre interpretation of the song.

Background

On February 18th, 2018, before the 2018 NBA All-Star Game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, pop singer Fergie sang the American National Anthem. The arrangement of the piece and the singer's vocal performance were subject of criticism and mockery afterwards.

Developments

During the performance, the camera cut to several NBA players struggling not to laugh. Twitter user and sports journalist Paige Dimakos tweeted a compilation of crowd and player reactions to the performance, with many NBA players and celebrities appearing stunned or attempting to stifle laughter (shown below).

During the halftime show of the game, commentator and former player Charles Barkley joked about the performance, saying he needed a cigarette afterwards.^[1] Shaquille O'Neal, who was also on commentary for TNT, attempted to stifle jokes about the performance by saying "Fergie, I love you. It was different. It was sexy. I liked it. Leave her alone."

Social media users immediately joked about the performance. Sportswriter Jemele Hill pointed to NBA player Draymond Green's reaction, saying, "Draymond Green is all of us," gaining 13,000 retweets and over 29,000 likes (shown below, left). NBA meme account @NBABeLike tweeted an image of Warriors player Klay Thompson with his ear bleeding, gaining 3,200 retweets and 9,500 likes (shown below, right).

News publications harshly criticized Fergie's performance. Deadspin^[2] wrote of the performance in a piece titled "Words Cannot Begin To Describe The Horror Of Fergie's All-Star Game National Anthem." Rolling Stone^[3] called the performance "disastrous." Forbes^[4] called it "terrible." Deadspin^[5] obtained footage of Fergie rehearsing the piece beforehand, where she appears unsure about the arrangement. To TMZ,^[6] Fergie apologized, saying she attempted to take an artistic risk but her performance "clearly didn't strike the right tone."

Search Interest

External References