The Chicks Criticized for ‘Awful’ Star-Spangled Banner at DNC

Country music band “The Chicks” faced criticism for their rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner during the final night of the Democratic National Convention.

Bandmates Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer took the stage at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday for an acapella version of the national anthem.

The musicians started their 3-part harmony but soon hit different notes, which led some viewers to criticize their singing.

“Correction, the chicks butchered the national anthem, It was terrible,” one X user commented.

“That was just terrible-I mean an absolute terrible rendition,” another said.

“The big act was The Chicks who managed to mangle the National Anthem with an embarrassing off-key rendition” another user added.

“It was that God-awful rendition of the national anthem by ‘the chicks,’” noted another comment.

Another X user wrote, “Was this the big surprise of the night? The washed up Dixie Chicks? LOL,” referring to the rumor that Beyonce would appear in Chicago for a surprise performance.

“You think they would have learned to stay out of politics,” another social media comment said.

The 13-time Grammy Award-winning band received a standing ovation as the crowd inside the arena burst into a chant of “USA, USA.”

The band, which has sold millions of records since its formation in Dallas, Texas in 1989, faced backlash for their comments criticizing then-President George W. Bush and the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

While performing in London on March 10, 2003, Maines told the audience she was “ashamed” Bush. “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all,” Maines said just days before the invasion of Iraq. “We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas.”

The band was known as “The Dixie Chicks” from their inception up till 2020 when they changed their name to the current form, saying they wanted to distance themselves from “Dixie,” a word closely associated with the pre-Civil War South and slavery.

While social media users weren’t too impressed with Thursday night’s rendition, the 13-time Grammy Award-winning band received a standing ovation as the crowd inside the arena burst into a chant of “USA, USA.”