If there is one song you don't want to mess up as a singer, it's "The Star-Spangled Banner." Viewers are roasting The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) for their rendition of the national anthem during the Democratic National Convention.
The trio of Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer went on stage to perform the song for the crowd. They opted to perform an a cappella version of the national anthem. However, they appeared to struggle to keep the same harmony. They quickly began to hit different notes throwing the song off. Viewers took issue with the chicks and their performance.
"Correction, the chicks butchered the national anthem, It was terrible," one X user commented.
"Was this the big surprise of the night? The washed up Dixie Chicks? LOL," another X user wrote. Beyonce apparently was rumored to show up but didn't.
Viewers Roast The Chicks
"That was just terrible-I mean an absolute terrible rendition," another said. The big act was The Chicks who managed to mangle the National Anthem with an embarrassing off-key rendition. It was that God-awful rendition of the national anthem by 'the chicks.'"
"You think they would have learned to stay out of politics," another social media comment said.
Okay, so the criticism is pretty harsh. Leaving politics out of it, The Chicks didn't do themselves any favors by deciding to perform the national anthem a cappella. Some songs lend themselves well to a cappella. Think anything Pitch Perfect for instance. However, the national anthem isn't one of them. It's a weighty and fairly serious song. It's designed to bring out emotion, so you need to hit those notes as if you were singing on a battlefield.
I also think that The Chicks may have been set up for failure. The national anthem isn't really a song that needs three voices on it. Pick one soulful artist and let them bring down the roof. Put Patti LaBelle on the song, who performed at the DNC nights ago, and I promise you would have had a different reaction.
As it stands though, The Chicks' version of the song sounds a bit shrill, no? Like it's generally unpleasant to the ears.
