Country music band The Chicks came under fire for their “terrible” performance of the Stars and Stripes on the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention.
Fellow band members Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer took to the stage at Chicago’s United Center on Thursday to perform an a cappella version of the national anthem.
The musicians began with a three-part harmony in a similar key, but the three singers quickly sounded different, leading some viewers to take issue with their singing.
“Correction. The girls ruined the national anthem. It was awful,” one X user commented.
“That was just awful. A really awful performance,” said another.
“The big winners were The Chicks, who ruined the national anthem by being embarrassingly off-key.”
“The Chicks’ performance of the national anthem was awful”
“Was this the big surprise tonight? The defunct Dixie Chicks? LOL,” another X user wrote, referring to rumors that Beyoncé would make a surprise appearance in Chicago.
“They should have learned to stay out of politics,” said another social media comment.
The band, which has sold millions of records since forming in Dallas, Texas in 1989, faced backlash for comments criticizing then-President George W. Bush and the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
While performing in London on March 10, 2003, Maines told the audience that she was “ashamed of Bush.”
“Just to be clear, we have a good relationship with you guys,” Maines said just days before the invasion of Iraq. “We don’t want this war, we don’t want this violence. It’s embarrassing that the president of the United States is from Texas.”
The band was originally known as “The Dixie Chicks,” but changed its name to its current name in 2020, wanting to distance itself from the word “Dixie,” which has close associations with the antebellum South and slavery.
While social media users were less than impressed with Thursday night’s performance, the 13-time Grammy Award-winning band received a standing ovation as the crowd inside the arena chanted “USA, USA.”
