The 2022 World Series got underway Friday night, but it did so in a rather inauspicious manner.
The national anthem is usually an uneventful affair, but singers do struggle in the biggest moments. So it was with The Black Pumas' Eric Burton, who performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" ahead of Game 1 between the Phillies and Astros in Houston.
Burton's rendition started out fine, but once he got into the meat of the song, he tripped over the lyrics, twice singing "What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last streaming."
Eric Burton, lead singer of Austin’s own Black Pumas flubs lyrics of the National Anthem at World Series opener in Houston. pic.twitter.com/uWoknzStbs
— Ricky (@RickyG_TV) October 29, 2022
Burton is hardly the first singer to forget the lyrics to the anthem, and he won't be the last. To his credit, he plowed ahead without lingering on the moment.
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Because of that, Burton likely won't join the Christina Aguilera-Fergie Pantheon of Bad Anthems. With that being said, people did notice (of course they did).
Was it just me or did Eric Burton mess up the national anthem?#WorldSeries
— Lukas Weese (@Weesesports) October 28, 2022
Aaaaaand we've already screwed up the National Anthem. World Series is off to a banger of a start.
— Jarrett Bellini (@JarrettBellini) October 28, 2022
When performing the National Anthem, it is always the best the idea to learn the lyrics beforehand.
— Neil Kaplan - Voice Actor Dude Guy (@NeKap) October 28, 2022
Especially when performing in front of a global audience.
The Black Pumas have been nominated for six Grammy awards to date and won for Best New Artist in 2020.
Country group Little Big Town will sing the anthem before Game 2 on Saturday.