Staind’s Aaron Lewis Apologizes After Flubbing National Anthem Lyrics at World Series

Most of us have sung the National Anthem what seems like a million times, but there's no accounting for the pressure of doing it in front of one of the largest audiences of your career. And so it goes that Staind frontman Aaron Lewis will be remembered for flubbing one of the lines of the National Anthem prior to the fifth game of the 2014 World Series in San Francisco.

The vocalist had been invited to perform at the game between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park, and flubbed the second line of the song, as he sang "What so proudly we hailed were so gallantly streaming" instead of "What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming."

After his performance (seen above), Lewis released the following statement on his website.

All I can say is I'm sorry and ask for the nation's forgiveness. My nerves got the best of me and I am completely torn up about what happened.
America is the greatest country in the world. 'The Star-Spangled Banner' means so much to so many, including myself.
I hope everyone can understand the intensity of the situation and my true intent of this performance.
I hope that the nation, Major League Baseball and the many fans of our national pastime can forgive me.

Ironically, Lewis had criticized pop star Christina Aguilera when she managed to switch up a few words during the performance of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in 2011. "If there's a single song in the history of this country that deserves no creative interpretation, it's that one," said Lewis at a Westbury, New York, concert shortly after Aguilera's Super Bowl bungle.

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