Everyone has heard the U.S. National Anthem; it’s almost never news when it happens. If you’ve heard one version of it, you’ve likely heard them all. On rare occasions, you get a truly bad rendition, it goes viral, and eventually, it fades out of collective consciousness. Fergie’s performance at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game is maybe the only one where it has stuck with fans years after the fact.
However, this singer’s take might just take the cake. Classic Motown singer Martha Reeves sang the U.S. National Anthem before the Women’s Pro Baseball League Opening Day between New York Heights and the Los Angeles Queens. There, she’s joined by two other women as they sing an extremely pitchy take of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Reeves in particular has this particularly shaky voice, occasionally pulling away from the microphone as if she’s out of breath. Frequently, the camera pans over to audience members, some of whom are trying their hardest not to burst out laughing. One couple in particular is spotted smirking, on the verge of exploding into laughter.
Most hilarious of all is when the camera pans over to one of the baseball players who tries her hardest to contain herself. You can see her actively bite her tongue in reaction to Reeves sing “still there” slightly after the two other singers belt it out.
Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the national anthem at the first Women’s Pro Baseball League tonight pic.twitter.com/3lEYRYNQTi
— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) August 2, 2026
The Internet Debates Whether This Is the Worst u.s. National Anthem Performance
As you might expect, the internet immediately started cracking jokes. Additionally, they’re wondering if this might’ve finally taken Fergie’s throne for the worst version of the Star-Spangled Banner. One person in the X replies joked that the two other women ended up fighting their harmonies against Martha Reeves’ singing. “What started off as a 3 part harmony group quickly turned into a 2 v 1 battle of the National Anthem,” they wrote.
Before this unfortunate spark of online virality, Martha Reeves was best known for her time in Martha and the Vandellas. The Motown girl group initially started out backing up Marvin Gaye’s vocals before making their own records. The lineup saw a variety of changes, but Reeves remained at the center of it. Eventually, they would land a litany of different Hot 100 hits, including “Jimmy Mack” and “A Love Like Yours (Don’t Come Knocking Everyday)”.
By 1972, she negotiated out of her recording contract and pursued a solo career. For what it’s worth, long before this National Anthem debacle, Martha Reeves sounded great in her prime.
(Photo by Jessie Alcheh/Getty Images)
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