Roseanne Barr says Fergie's national anthem performance was worse than her 1990 rendition
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Roseanne Barr, who sang the national anthem in 1990 (left), compared her performance to Fergie's at the Feb. 18 All-Star game. (AP/ Reuters)
Fergie has officially stolen the title of the most controversial national anthem performance from sitcom queen Roseanne Barr.
On Sunday night, A-list celebrities sat courtside at the annual NBA All-Star game, which kicked off with a unique performance by Fergie.
The former Black Eyed Peas singer opened the game with a non-traditional, sexier version of "The Star-Spangled Banner," causing confusion and harsh criticism from viewers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But someone who could relate to Fergie's national anthem shame was Barr. The actress performed her own highly criticized version of the song at a 1990 Padres game. Barr’s off-key performance was so bad, President George H. W. Bush called it “disgraceful."
But despite her past pitchy performance, Barr joked on Twitter that Fergie's was much worse.
“Who saw Fergie’s national anthem performance at the NBA All-Star Game?” Barr tweeted late Sunday night. “I think mine was better lowkey [sic].”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The "Roseanne" star explained what happened during her awkward performance in a 2015 interview with The Washington Post.
“I started too high. I knew about six notes in that I couldn’t hit the big note," she admitted. "So I just tried to get through it, but I couldn’t hear anything with 50,000 drunk a--- booing, screaming ‘you fat f---,’ giving me the finger and throwing bottles at me during the song they ‘respect’ so much.”
Since Fergie's now infamous rendition went viral, instead of people booing and screaming at her in person, they have sounded off on social media and online. Other celebrities such as Khloe Kardashian and former NBA star Charles Barkley shared their opinions on the controversial performance.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kardashian tweeted, "This All-Star opening is confusing me. WTF is going on? Anyone?"
During the show's commentary, Barkley asked his fellow commentators what they thought of the song.
And while Shaquille O'Neal defended the 42-year-old singer and said, "Oh, stop, don’t do that. Leave my Fergie alone. Fergie, I love you. It was different, it was sexy.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barkley disagreed joking that he "needed a cigarette" after the performance.