Sophia Michaels
For fans of the Houston Astros, Game One of the World Series both started and ended on a sour note as, hours before the team’s extra-innings loss, Black Pumas singer Eric Burton struggled through his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The Grammy-nominated, Austin, Texas-based singer, who was previously enlisted to perform Black Pumas’ “Colors” during President Joe Biden’s inauguration festivities, made multiple errors with the lyrics to the National Anthem.
Burton’s first flub came when he crooned, “What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last streaming” instead of “gleaming,” and then continued in the second verse, when he again repeated the line, “What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last streaming” instead of singing “O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming.”
However, after those initial mistakes, Burton righted himself upon hitting the “And the rocket’s red glare,” and finished out the anthem strong.
The opposite was true of the Astros, who surged out to a 5-0 lead over the Philadelphia Phillies before squandering the advantage, allowing the Phillies to first tie the game and then win in the 10th inning, giving Philadelphia the opening game of the World Series.
