Opening Day: Singer butchers national anthem before Mets-Pirates game at Citi Field
Players stand as Christopher Jackson of "Hamilton" sings the national anthem before Opening Day between the Mets and the Pirates at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: AP/Angelina Katsanis
Opening Day at Citi Field began with a blunder before a pitch was even thrown.
National anthem singer Chris Jackson, who played George Washington in the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” messed up the words of “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of Thursday afternoon’s season-opening game between the Mets and Pirates.
He butchered the line, “O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming,” and instead said: “What so proudly we hail, were so gallantly streaming.”
The rest of the anthem went smoothly, though, and he still received applause from the juiced-up crowd.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
