Jewel Changes National Anthem Arrangement for Indy 500, Dividing Viewers

By Libby Birk

Jewel put her own country-pop spin on the national anthem at the Indy 500 on Sunday afternoon as she rang in the annual IndyCar race. Her unique arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" divided fans, with some loving the slowed-down, mellow version and others panning it as disrespectful. In a video of the performance posted to the NBC IndyCar Series Twitter account, some crowd members appeared confused while others seemed to enjoy it.

Online, the reaction has been similarly mixed. Some praised the four-time Grammy nominee for trying something new on the patriotic song while others called it straight-up disrespectful. Listen to it below:

"This is the perfect example of how not to do the national anthem," one person tweeted. "It was to the point of being disrespectful." Someone else wrote that she "butchered" the anthem, calling it a "shame" that some people apparently couldn't sing along to the folksy version. Someone else said it "might be the worst anthem rendition to date."

On the other hand, others praised it, with one person writing, "Jewel just did the best national anthem I've ever heard in my life." Someone else who said they attended the race said "it was a total highlight of the pre-race festivities." Some people pointed out that singers have been putting their own spin on the anthem for years. "It takes guts and talent to add a personal touch to an anthem," one person tweeted.

Jewel isn't on an island as a controversial national anthem performer; several artists have come under fire for their versions of "The Star-Spangled Banner," including Fergie for her jazzy and widely panned performance of it at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. She reworked the melody to a jazzy, sultry rendition that stunned viewers and even appeared to amuse some of the players themselves. Jimmy Kimmel was even caught on-camera smirking at Fergie's performance. "Here's the thing about taking risks when it comes to the national anthem: Don't. Just don't," he said later. "Don't take risks when you're doing brain surgery, don't take risks when you're driving a school bus, or singing the national anthem. Just regular is fine."

Backlash was so severe that Fergie ended up issuing an apology. "I'm a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn't strike the intended tone," she said at the time. "I love this country and honestly tried my best." At the time of this writing, Jewel has not addressed the controversy over her own performance.

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