Watch Lady Antebellum Totally Mess Up The National Anthem During The Stanley Cup Playoffs

The National Anthem has a storied history at sporting events. For every beautiful, moving rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" performed in stadiums, rinks and fields across the country, there are seemingly at least one or two more that don't quite hit the high notes. At the NBA All-Star Game earlier this year, for instance, Fergie performed a jazzier and strangely sexy take of Francis Scott Key's signature tune that was instantly derided, to the point where the pop musician had to issue an apology for her "risky" performance. Now, Fergie can rest a little easier, as Lady Antebellum is the latest band to flub the staple song of sporting events across the country. As you can see below, during the Game Five of Round 2 in Nashville when the Predators were playing the Jets, the Nashville musicians didn't quite nail the song to kick off the game. While the performance started promisingly at first, the singing trio lost their way during a key part of the song, and even a player or two in the rink couldn't hold back their chuckles during this latest rendition. Take a look.

After a high-energy introduction from the stadium announcer, which highlighted the best-selling group's numerous achievements, awards successes and high acclaim, Lady Antebellum started strong at first with Charles Kelley's booming voice giving the nation's song the emotional power it deserves. And when Hillary Scott joined in, things were still sounding good. However, when Dave Haywood began backing them up, things were going smooth at first, but it wasn't long before the performance went south. As you can see in the video above, the three singers didn't weren't on the same page about the lyrics, and the audience was quick to notice the mistake. There are clearly some snickers that the camera caught, both in the rink and in the audience, and while they tried to be respectful, it was hard not to laugh a little.

Lady Antebellum Reaction Shot

Ultimately, though, Lady Antebellum is taking the embarrassing situation with a good sense of humor. Similar to Fergie after her own botched rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," the musical group went onto social media page to apologize for the goof and to remind fans that, hey, they're human. Everyone makes mistakes, even very publicly seen ones aired on broadcast television...

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Hopefully, Lady Antebellum doesn't take it too personally. The trio is still keeping smiles on their faces and moving forward from here. The band released its seventh studio album, Heart Break, last summer, and the group is preparing for the upcoming summer tour, Summer Plays On Tour, with Darius Rucker. Hopefully, even with this botched performance in mind, the gang keeps their spirits up, too. That said, they'll join the leagues of musicians who didn't perfect their takes on "The Star-Spangled Banner" inside the world of sports.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.