On Air Now
Calm Classics with Ritula Shah 10pm - 1am
20 February 2018, 17:12
Fergie's national anthem draws criticism | ESPN
02:20
This week's viral video is a meticulous note-by-note transcription of the performance that made headlines around the world.
Black-Eyed Peas singer Fergie drew quite a bit of social media attention following her soul/jazz/ballad arrangement of the US national anthem and liberal interpretation of pitch and rhythm within the arrangement.
And whenever a musical performance is in the news, there's always a music geek working away in the background, willing to transcribe it for the furtherment of mankind's knowledge.
Thanks for taking this one for the team, Nick Perez.
Fergie's a great musician. And it's a tough gig sometimes. After the performance went viral, she said "I'm a risk taker artistically." And we applaud that.
And just while we're talking about this tune, here are two more great performances of it: here's Beyonce showing why she's the queen.
...and here's opera star Joyce Di Donato: