Alexander Hamilton may have been the one to say, “I am not throwing away my shot,” but Christopher Jackson might have benefited from remembering that line during MLB Opening Day. That’s because Jackson, the Tony Award-nominated actor who portrayed George Washington in Hamilton, forgot some of the words to the national anthem ahead of the New York Mets 2026 season opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Unfortunately for Jackson, his rendition quickly went viral when he flubbed a few lines in the middle of the anthem.
When the time came to sing “O’er the ramparts we watched,” Jackson instead repeated, “What so proudly we hailed.” He managed to transition into “were so gallantly streaming” after that, but there’s no editing a live broadcast. Jackson finished the song without any other snafus, remaining cool and collected.
‘Hamilton’ Actor Skipped a Line in the National Anthem, But Worse Things Have Happened
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Overall, Jackson’s national anthem wasn’t as bad as many others. It’s more ironic that the actor who originated the role of the first president of the United States flubbed a line in the American theme song. As for bad national anthems, this doesn’t really come close.
For example, in 2024, country singer Ingrid Andress performed the national anthem at the Home Run Derby. Her vocals were severely off-key, and baseball fans quickly labeled it the worst ever. Later, she revealed that she had been drunk at the time, noting in a Glamour essay that she was leaning on alcohol to deal with depression.
Other, more lighthearted disasters occurred in 2003, when Michael Bolton performed at a playoff game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Like Jackson, the problem wasn’t in his vocals. Instead, Bolton was caught with the lyrics to the national anthem written on his hand.
Fergie contributed to the national anthem trainwrecks as well, when she performed before the 2018 NBA All-Star game. She decided to turn the song into a blown-out, sultry lounge tune, taking many liberties with its rhythm and syllables. This was more of a test of everyone’s self-control in that arena, as they most likely held back explosive laughter.
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