Lady Antebellum was the latest country act to perform the national anthem prior to a Nashville Predators playoff game, but their performance didn’t go off without a hitch.
The Grammy Award-winning trio made up of Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood made their way to the ice before the Preds took on Winnipeg for Game 5 of the second round Stanley Cup playoff series at Bridgestone Arena Saturday night. Kelley took the lead on “The Star-Spangled Banner” and got the song off to a beautiful start, but shortly after Scott joined in with harmonies, Kelley stumbled over the lyrics. Kelley was obviously flustered by the mishap, but finished the song with grace.
Lady A took to Twitter following the flub to share a photo of Kelley with his face in his hands with Scott and Haywood appearing to comfort him. “Welp. We’re human too, y’all,” the caption read.
Welp. We’re human too y’all 🤷♂️🤷♀️🤷♂️ We’re still rooting for ya Preds!!! #smashville pic.twitter.com/0fWw5EqV8R
— Lady A (@ladya) May 6, 2018
But, many social media users were quick to criticize the group.
https://twitter.com/LesleyH26071190/status/992960662786756608
https://twitter.com/LittleLadyLov/status/992959079814520832
Boooo👎😏 to @charleskelleyla of @ladyantebellum for messing up the National Anthem at the @PredsNHL playoff game. If folks would stop trying to make it into a “concert” 🙅🏽♂️& just sing it how it’s supposed to go, there would be far 👏less👏mess👏ups. 🤷🏽♂️
— Donovan Chumbley Jr (@RoadRunner717) May 6, 2018
But, fans of Lady Antebellum were quick to come to their defense.
Love this. Great recovery on it. Personally I think singing it as a trio would be harder than alone.
— Amber Hickerson (@ambley79) May 6, 2018
It’s happens. At least you weren’t lip syncing ☺️
— Elizabeth (@baylacamp) May 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/Steve_Sold_It/status/992960056042885122
We think Lady Antebellum still delivered a great performance and hope that you all agree! Hear them sing the national anthem in the video below and let us know what you think.