Adam David certainly has The Voice, but hockey fans think he “pucked” up the national anthem at a Stanley Cup playoff game on Saturday, May 24.
Fresh off his Voice Season 27 win this week, David performed “The Star Spangled-Banner” before the Florida Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 6–2 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday.
But between his slow tempo and his garbled vocals — he either forgot or didn’t enunciate the “twilight’s last gleaming” lyric — David didn’t exactly have spectators proudly hailing his performance.
“What the f*** is this national anthem for Carolina-Florida?” X user @evanrwilliams asked.
“I’ve heard some bad renditions of the national anthem, but this ranks right up there,” said @SEVHistory.
“The guy who sang the national anthem was so f***ing bad,” wrote @kyntvyxsinstan. “Did he even know the words?”
Of David’s dawdling take on the song, @GewaltWarten said, “Come on. That Panthers anthem singer made me ready for a nap… not an NHL playoff game.”
X user @winemaker1960 wrote, “I blame the anthem singer for a listless first period,” while @KnightTimeTX posted a GIF of Friends’ Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) nodding off.
Tyler Golden/NBC
David, of course, isn’t the first celeb to give a reviled anthem performance. Fergie’s 2018 NBA All Star Weekend rendition had basketball players giggling. Christina Aguilera mixed up the words to the song at Super Bowl XLV in 2011. Michael Bolton had to check notes on his palm to remember the lyrics at a 2003 MLB game. And then there’s Roseanne Barr’s very off-pitch performance at a 1990 baseball game.
More recently, country singer Ingrid Andress botched the anthem at the 2024 T-Mobile Home Run Derby, later revealing on social media that she was drunk at the time and that she would be seeking treatment. After spending a month in rehab, Andress got her redemption with a better performance of the song at an NHL game this February. In an interview with People, Andress said that “second anthem” would be her last anthem, adding, “I’m never performing that song again — ever.”