Black Pumas' Eric Burton Kicks Off World Series With Botched National Anthem

The 2022 World Series has not even truly started, but the first error has already come to the attention of all. Eric Burton, the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter of the Black Pumas, opened Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Friday with a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the National Anthem, before Friday night's World Series opener between Houston and Philadelphia.

While his rendition was not off-key, it did contain multiple lyrical errors and some pitch issues, no pun intended. Here's the scoop...

Burton's rendition of the National Anthem sounded a little off, notes-wise, the moment he basically opened his mouth but the true trouble was with the lyrics. It was only when Burton reached the second stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that began to sing words that truly did not belong.

The actual lyrics go:

Oh, say, can you see

By the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hail'd

At the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars

Through the perilous fight

O'er the ramparts we watch'd

Were so gallantly streaming?

But what Burton sang was:

Oh, say, can you see

By the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hail'd

At the twilight's last dreaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars

Through the perilous fight

What so proudly we hail'd

At the twilight's last streaming?

First, he botched up the last word of the first stanza itself. But while singing the second stanza, he put the last two lines of the first stanza, although this time with the correct word, "streaming".

Burton certainly seemed honored, but unfortunately fudged it up a bit.

While no one is a stranger to the National Anthem, Burton, performed it during President Joe Biden's inauguration last year so should have been a whiz at the performance, by now.

As the players from the Houston and Philadelphia teams, as well as the staff lined up on the field for the traditional pregame ceremony, along with the massive American flag unfurled across the outfield, the Black Pumas band leader was expected to give a flawless performance. After goofing the first two stanzas, Burton then picked up correctly with "And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air" and finished somewhat uneventfully.

As a musical talent, he has received Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best American Roots Performance, Best Rock Performance, and Best Rock Album as a member of the Black Pumas, based in Austin, Texas.

Black Pumas single, "Colors", released in 2019, was also certified gold by the RIAA.

That said, fans noticed, as did Twitter, and the memes and one-liners are flowing in!

But before that, here's what happened in the game itself.

The memes and comments are flowing, like:

"Aaaaaand we've already screwed up the National Anthem. World Series is off to a banger of a start."

"Glad I'm not the only one who noticed. You'd think he'd read the words of the song he's going to sing on national television. And he couldn't hit the notes."

More tweets followed in quick succession.

This tweet might be a little OTT, though!

This was apt:

"Grammy-nominated Eric Burton flubbed the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner” before World Series Game 1. He twice sang “What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last streaming” — and sang it incorrectly both times."