Current:Home > StocksFlavor Flav goes viral after national anthem performance at Milwaukee Bucks game: Watch -Secure Horizon Growth
Flavor Flav goes viral after national anthem performance at Milwaukee Bucks game: Watch
View
Date:2025-04-15 01:14:46
Flavor Flav might not have immediately come to mind as an option when the Milwaukee Bucks said during the offseason that the team was seeking performers for the national anthem.
But the rapper, a member of the legendary group Public Enemy who famously rapped "Fight the Power," sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Sunday night's Bucks game at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, making his mark as the second performer of the new season.
The rendition certainly caught the attention of many on social media.
Flavor Flav, who donned in a No. 59 Milwaukee Bucks jersey, white hoodie and red blinged-out medallion, sang the anthem to the best of his ability, as the crowd looked on. A few Milwaukee Bucks players were seen trying to hold in or hide their laughter.
Flavor Flav received a small applause from the crowd after reaching the high note on "the rockets red glare" and "the land of the free."
Once he reached "home of the brave," he repeated the final verse three times, receiving applause with some in the audience giving a standing ovation.
Though some weren't fond of the performance, others compared Flav's performance to other renditions from the past that went viral, such as U.S. Olympian Carl Lewis' rendition in 1993 in New Jersey. The nine-time Olympic gold medalist's rendition was considered so poor that ESPN hosts famously struggled to make it through the segment.
There was also Fergie at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. That performance went viral as NBA superstars were caught on camera unable to hold in their laughter.
Flavor Flav did take to X, formerly known as Twitter, following the performance. He said the anthem was a "long time bucket list item" and he had "fun" during his performance.
"I can't live my life worried about what people might say about me," he added. "I won't let that stop me from trying new things and doing things I wanna do. Some people might not like that. But a sure failure is you stop trying."
Flavor Flav is known for bringing star power – or as Public Enemy group mate Chuck D said in his fine art book, "Livin’ Loud: ARTitation," Flavor Flav's job is "to come into the room and 'suck the stardom out of it.'"
"You can be the icing on the cake and be the spectacle, but it takes the rest to be spectacular," Chuck D told USA TODAY. "I always urged him, 'You’ve done the spectacle. Now work on the spectacular.' But it’s always good (between us)."
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
10 years later:the 'worst anthem' singer is on a Star-Spangled redemption tour
veryGood! (17373)
Related
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- From trash-strewn beach to artwork: How artists are raising awareness of plastic waste
- A pediatric neurosurgeon reflects on his intense job, and the post-Roe landscape
- Here's where striking actors and writers can eat for free
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be criminally charged over ‘harmful’ materials
- Viral dating screenshots and the absurdity of 'And Just Like That'
- IRS, Ivies and GDP
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- As social network Threads grows, voting rights groups worry about misinformation
Ranking
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- July keeps sizzling as Phoenix hits another 110-degree day and wildfires spread in California
- Mandy Moore reveals her 2-year-old son has a rare skin condition: 'Kids are resilient'
- Erratic winds challenge firefighters battling two major California blazes
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- Horoscopes Today, July 28, 2023
- The Yellow trucking company meltdown, explained
- July is set to be hottest month ever recorded, U.N. says, citing latest temperature data
Recommendation
John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
Sarah Sjöström breaks Michael Phelps' record at World Aquatics Championship
Anchorage homeless face cold and bears. A plan to offer one-way airfare out reveals a bigger crisis
Weighted infant sleepwear is meant to help babies rest better. Critics say it's risky
Small twin
Watch this lonesome turtle weighed down by barnacles get help from a nearby jet-skier
Last of nearly 100 pilot whales stranded on Australia beach are euthanized after getting rescued – then re-stranded
Pig cooling pads and weather forecasts for cows are high-tech ways to make meat in a warming world