It’s becoming a tradition: The Chicks will sing “The Star Spangled Banner” on the final night of the Democratic National Convention Thursday evening, just as they did at the DNC four years ago.
This rendition is likely to be much more emotionally charged, though, as the trio will be performing it live, unlike the solemn version that was pre-recorded in 2020, for the pandemic edition of the convention.
The news was first reported by CNN.
At the time of the 2020 DNC appearance, PvNew described their version as “turning the National Anthem into the harmony Olympics.”
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But the group, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, has a history with the National Anthem that stretches much further back than just four years ago — most famously with a rendition at Super Bowl XXXVII that has been oft-cited as among the greatest televised versions of Frances Scott Key’s anthem ever.
As widely applauded as that 2003 rendition was, their universal acclaim was to be short-lived, as it was just a few months after that that controversy erupted over a Natalie Maines remark about then-president George W. Bush and the Iraq war, deeply dividing their audience and prompting conservative boycotts.
The 2020 DNC appearance, then, marked a reclamation of sorts, even if it was in a convention environment that was not ready to make nice for Donald Trump and other Republicans.
As PvNew wrote in 2020: “At a Democratic convention, the Chicks represent a lot more than blood or near-blood harmony. They’re the original ‘nasty women’ of the early 21st century, when it comes to becoming pariahs for expressing thoughts about a Republican president. … Ultimately the group arose from the flames with a Grammy sweep, more sold-out tours and newfound admiration from fans who might otherwise never have followed the trio. But, needless to say, they remained deeply polarizing enough that a return invitation from the NFL (or any other major sports league) was out of the question. It took the DNC for the Chicks to find another mass audience that would greet their version of the anthem as deeply stirring — and recognize these battle-anthem singers as combat veterans themselves.”
PvNew further said of the 2020 DNC rendition, “Their performance made the anthem feel — maybe for one of the few times since it was codified into the American canon — like something was deeply at stake, besides whether or not the singer would blow it on the final notes. It felt like a declaration of war on who gets to claim the mantle of patriotism. It felt, in other words, like the latent sorrow, anger and tempered hope underlying the entire Democratic convention.”
Pink has also been reported as singing at the closing night of the 2024 convention, with an appearance believed to be leading into Kamala Harris’ climactic speech. The first three nights of the DNC included performances by John Legend, Jason Isbell, Patti LaBelle, Maren Morris, Common and Mickey Guyton, with a cameo by Jon B during a music-driven roll call.
