Grammy-nominated singer Eric Burton fumbled through “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Friday night’s World Series opener between Houston and Philadelphia because he couldn’t keep track of the words.
“It was unexpected”-He got lost in the second line
During the typical pre-game ceremonial, with players and personnel lined up on the field and a big American flag unfurled across the outfield, the Black Pumas band leader got lost in the second line. Instead of “gleaming,” he sang, “What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s final flowing.”
Whose broad stripes and dazzling stars through the risky conflict was the correct continuation of his thought. But then he went back to “What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last” and sang “streaming” instead of “gleaming” in the line “Over the ramparts we watched were so gallantly flowing?”
And the rocket’s crimson glow, the bomb shattering in air,” Burton continued accurately, and the rest was business as usual. Burton was part of the broadcast entertainment for Vice President Joe Biden’s inauguration last year.