Seahawks slammed over 'national atrocity' as metal singer performs Star-Spangled Banner on MNF
Seahawks slammed over 'national atrocity' as metal singer performs Star-Spangled Banner on MNF
Charlie Wilson Tue, November 3, 2026 at 1:14 PM UTC
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Anthrax lead singer Joey Belladonna performed the national anthem before the Chicago Bears-Seattle Seahawks game on Monday Night Football -Credit:Getty Images (Getty Images)
Metal singer Joey Belladonna performed the Star-Spangled Banner at Lumen Field for the Seattle Seahawks' game against the Chicago Bears on ESPN's Monday Night Football — and fans were not happy.
The 66-year-old performed an acoustic version of the national anthem, with opinions mixed — as one NFL fan even dubbed it a "national atrocity."
Belladonna performed the national anthem at Lumen Field during a game between two teams seen as Super Bowl contenders and potential NFC Championship Game participants: the Seahawks and the Bears. But a majority of fans began the game speaking about Belladonna. It came as MNF viewers thought they could see a clear sign of tensions between Troy Aikman and Joe Buck.
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One wrote, "Seattle brought out one of the worst National Anthem singer I have ever heard. This dude is trash."
Another posted, "Whoever this is singing national anthem sounds horrible lol"
A third wrote, "Was the worst national anthem in the history of mankind," while a fourth said, "And whose dad is that up there singing the national anthem as flat as he possibly can."
However, some fans praised the performance; one commented, "Joey Balladonna — an American heavy metal singer best known as the lead vocalist for Seattle award-winning thrash metal band Anthrax killed it on the National Anthem at the Monday Night Football game tonight!"
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Another posted, "Joey Belladonna just nailed the national anthem on Monday Night Football."
Caleb Williams led the Bears down on a touchdown drive to start the game -Credit:Steph Chambers/Getty Images
The NFL and its teams have been regularly criticized for their national anthem performers so far this season, with Amazon Prime not even showing them in recent weeks.
In the Bears' game against the New England Patriots last week, Amazon went to commercial break during the anthem — in a matchup in which a moment of silence was given to team legend Mike Ditka, who recently passed away.
In ESPN's game between the Seahawks and Bears on Monday night, Aikman returned to the booth alongside Joe Buck, as the two appear not to be on the best of terms.
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Aikman and Buck almost had a fight in the booth in October after the former criticized the latter following his extension to stay with ESPN.
Aikman was said to have been unhappy after Buck did not inform him he was signing a deal, and no talks were held with Aikman amid reports of his exit.
Greg Olsen and Jason Kelce are considered replacement options for Aikman.
The Seahawks loss comes just days after owner Vinod Khosla chose a political side with a huge $2 million donation.
Source: “AOL Sports”
