Edd’s MANtra: The Best National Anthem

My young brother-in-law and I engaged in a pretty heated debated a few days ago and I come to you, the GeorgiaMae faithful, for your opinions.

My bro-in-law believes that the greatest rendition of our national anthem was performed by Beyonce at the 2004 Super Bowl. And while I’ll agree that Beyonce did an excellent job, I don’t think it compares to Whitney Houston’s version 1991 of the Star-Spangled Banner.

In my view, Whitney’s version is a much cleaner performance – Beyonce’s is riddled with her annoying riffs. Of course, he doesn’t see that at all.

I wonder if there is generation gap is playing a part in our decisions. My bro-in-law sees Beyonce as the greatest vocalist of ALL TIME. I think you can make a case for her being the best of this generation, but I don’t think she can touch Whitney at her peak. In his defense, most people under 20 only know Whitney as Bobby Brown’s drug-addled scarecrow, not a world-class vocalist.

But then again, as he gleefully points out, I only like “old man music” so maybe I’m not giving Bey enough credit.

I’d like to hear what you think.

Here’s Beyonce’s version. And here is Whitney’s.

Which version is the best? Or do you prefer another artists’ rendition?

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmail

3 Comments

  1. Did you see the thing where Jesse McCartney skipped a whole verse? LOL

    And of course Beyonce has nothing on Whitney!!

  2. While I think that Beyonce is talented indeed, I disagree that she is the greatest vocalist of all time. I like music all they way from back in the day when my parents were growing up, all the way up until today and there are some very talented people out there who definitely are in the competition for greatest vocalist.

    Whitney (pre-crack) was slamming! Mariah Carey has mad vocals and range. Celine Dion…I still haven’t figured out where she pulls all of that from when she sings. And Lord knows I think that Christina Aguilera swallowed a pipe organ when she was little with the way she belts out songs. And then you also have people who didn’t and still don’t get enough credit that have good vocal talent…like Deborah Cox for example. My girl can sing! Now I wouldn’t say that Deborah is the best vocalist of all time but she definitely has skills. But I would say that the Whitney from back in the day, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera would definitely give Bey a challenge, just to name a few.

  3. While reading Arnita’s, I kept thinking, yep and

    So – what she (Arnita) said! 🙂

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*