GARY DINEEN/NBAE VIA GETTY
Flavor Flav is known as a skilled rapper and beloved reality television star — but now the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member is ready to show off his singing talents.
On Sunday, the Public Enemy member performed a heartfelt and memorable rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of the Bucks-Hawks game at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee — surprising audience members who likely hadn’t heard him sing before.
Flav, 64, sported one of his signature oversized clock necklaces for the performance, appearing with a smile on his face before launching into his a cappella take on the national anthem.
He may not have hit every single note, but Flav’s version of the Francis Scott Key classic certainly featured a lot of passion and heart. After the gig, he posted to social media to express pride in accomplishing his first-ever national anthem performance.
MarJon Beauchamp, Flavor Flav, Damian Lillard in Milwaukee on Oct. 29, 2023.NATHANIEL S. BUTLER/NBAE VIA GETTY
“The anthem was a long time bucket list item,,, that was fun!” wrote the Flavor of Love star on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday evening before addressing critics of his national anthem rendition — some of whom compared Flav’s vocal stylings to Fergie‘s infamous 2018 take on the song.
“I can’t live my life worried about what people might say about me. I won’t let that stop me from trying new things and doing things I wanna do,” continued the Grammy-nominated rapper. “Some people might not like that. But a sure failure is if you stop trying.”
Viewers who may have been shocked to see Flav step out of the hip-hop space for a second to showcase his singing chops should remember the “Fight the Power” emcee was a classically trained musician before he launched into hip-hop.
Flav reminded fans of his skills by sharing one X user’s post featuring a video of him playing piano alongside the text, “Fun fact: Flavor Flav was a musical prodigy. As a child he taught himself to play 15 different instruments. Like Mozart, he has the unique talent of hearing a song and replicating it by ear.”
According to a 2006 interview with the star published by Entertainment Weekly, Flav “sang in the youth choir at his church and mastered the piano, drums, and guitar at an early age.”