What's The Deal With Brett Young's National Anthem?

Brett Young is one of the fastest rising stars in country music today but that doesn't mean he is immune to criticism.

The musician was tapped to perform the national anthem at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game over the weekend and the internet was not having it.

People took to Twitter to slam Young's performance on Sunday and the tweets were brutal. Many were accusing the country star of butchering the tune while others seemed to have a problem with how long it took him to sing it. One user even joked that he was being paid by the hour. (For the record, it took him about 1 minute and 40 seconds to sing the whole thing.)

I was surprised to see how negative the reaction was, even before I saw the performance myself. Judging by what those on the internet were saying, I was horrified to watch it and thought it would be the worst thing I had ever heard. It turns out I was scared for nothing.

I am a HUGE Brett Young fan. With that said, here's the thing: Young doesn't have a super powerful, showy voice so I wouldn't expect him to belt it out just for this performance. He sang it like he sings his own songs with his own delivery and made it his own. I don't think it was the greatest performance I've ever seen but does it deserve all the backlash? No. I don't feel like it dragged on that much either. (Young had sang the national anthem earlier in the year the same way and it didn't get any backlash then.)

The truth is, even if it was the best version of the Star-Spangled Banner ever, there still would have been people bashing it. That's just the reality of the internet these days.

The good news is it will all blow over soon.