Fergie Delivers One of The Worst National Anthems Ever | Op Ed

Fergie did not “make a joyful noise” on Sunday, February 18, 2018, as she delivered a totally terrible rendition of the U.S. National Anthem. At the NBA All-Star Game.

PREPARE FOR A RANT. As an American musician, there’s one cardinal sin – totally screwing up the National Anthem.  Unfortunately, numerous musicians are guilty of this sin.  Often, the main offense is forgetting the lyrics, or repeating a phrase.  Sometimes, it’s a liberal take on the melody, which is best left unchanged.  Also, stylistic liberalism can be absolutely unfortunate, for the musician and the audience. Time and time again, these American musicians have found a way to get negative press because they messed up the most important song – “The Star-Spangled Banner.”  The latest offender was Fergie, who performed The National Anthem at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. Unfortunately for the urban-pop musician, it was nothing short of a [bleeping] disaster.

Before analyzing this horrid performance, one has to ask, why in the world was Fergie selected in the first place? No offense, she has pipes, but musically, save for a select few performances, has she ever proven herself to be a serious musician.  Look over her work with The Black Eyed Peas. Something tells me that lines like “They say they love my ass in / Seven Jeans, True Religion” (“My Humps”) don’t scream, Hey, let’s book her to sing our country’s most important song! Furthermore, examine her solo discography, which includes songs like “London Bridge” and the flat-out raunch-fest “M.I.L.F.$.”. Again, why? What do you expect from an artist who has rarely went beyond being gimmicky, risqué, and unapologetic. But, again, Fergie does legitimately have a great voice – I won’t strip her of that.  I do take issue with how she uses it, but that’s not the matter at hand.

There’s no sugarcoating this.  EVERYTHING was wrong about this performance.  A sultry, jazzy approach to The National Anthem goes ‘against the grain.’  While interpreting standard music differently isn’t a sin, there’s a time and a place. This was not the time for Fergie to take a Janet Jackson song to heart (“Any Time, Any Place”), dang it!  This was not the time and the place for Fergie to try to give a tongue-in cheek performance.  It just felt disrespectful.  Yes, the National Anthem has been the source of lots of controversy, but, her approach was hella controversial in itself.

The diction was off, the nuances and ad-libs were over-the-top, and of course it was a bad sign when the tonic – a “G” in this instance – was pronouncedly flat at the beginning.  Yes, it’s a live performance, and no, I’m not going to go overkill on more minor issues, but this was a train-wreck almost before it even began. For a career that’s already greatly diminished, a cabaret-like performance of America’s most important song was NOT was Fergie needed.  Furthermore, our poor ears didn’t need to hear that.