Chaka Khan may be every woman, but it seems that none of these women can successfully sing a rendition of the National Anthem without getting backlash. Channelling the essence of her predecessor, Fergie, Chaka delivered her own version of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ which didn’t sit well with viewers.
It takes a certain je ne sais quoi to pull of the American National Anthem ‘The Star Spangled Banner’. Many have tried, and many have failed. Showing up at the NBA All-Star Game to sing the anthem was Chaka Khan, known for going through the fire, and for being every woman. Thanks to her, the pre-performance of the National Anthem trended higher than the game itself, but not quite for the reasons she would hope.
In 2018, Fergie made the legendary attempt to sex-up the National Anthem. No seriously, in case you forgot, the video is at the bottom of the post. Blindly aiming for a certain Marilyn Monroe sense of charm, she ushered her way into the hall of fame of bad National Anthem renditions. Khan, at least, did not do such a thing – but her essence during the performance definitely had the same mislead confidence as the Fergalicious dutchess herself.
Social media took to their reactions as soon as the performance aired, addressing the event that they had just witnessed.
Among those pointing out that Khan’s rendition was getting quite a reaction was Questlove, who merely tweeted, “I’m not watching the all star game but my phone is ringing off the hook. My guess is someone did a weird Star Spangled?”
You can watch Chaka Khan singing the National Anthem below. Let us know what you think of her version of the performance.
You can have a look at some of the best social media reactions to Chaka Khan’s performance of the National Anthem below.
Love Hip Hop?
Get the latest Hip Hop news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
I love Chaka Khan and she is truly “I’m Every Woman” but it sounded like all of those women were trying to come out during that vocal performance pic.twitter.com/EYT0XbjB9Q
— Eric Perry (@Ericperrytv) February 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/witchyjeong/status/1229235136891379713?s=20
Listen.
LISTEN.
Idk what kinda chopped and screwed, key of cdf & g, lower octave, range of “what was it”, falsetto, vibrato version of the Star Spangled Banner that was but..
Hey. Chaka did HER THANG.#NBAAllStarGame pic.twitter.com/FcBZDNvAWm
— Shanelle Genai’s YeeHaw Agenda✨ (@shanellegenai) February 17, 2020
Everybody, Chaka Khan is a soulful singer and she did the Star Spangled Banner, her way, tonight. There’s no perfect way to sing it.
There’s other people in this world who have different voices. Don’t be judging how people should sing and act. Leave Chaka be, now!
— Chris🎆Rad🎉Finch🎆( ‘25 ) (@RadFinch) February 17, 2020
I’m not watching the all star game but my phone is ringing off the hook. My guess is someone did a weird Star Spangled?
— ?st (@questlove) February 17, 2020
Of course, thanks to Chaka Khan singing the National Anthem, Fergie and NBAAllStarGame are now trending on Twitter.
Fergie, of course, because of her iconic performance of the National Anthem which was critically dubbed as being the worst rendition ever. Just to freshen up your memory, here it is: