George Washington botched the national anthem on baseball’s opening day — kind of.
In an unfortunate mishap, actor and singer Christopher Jackson, famous for his originating performance of the first president in the smash Broadway musical Hamilton, mangled the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 2026 Major League Baseball season opener for the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates.
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At the Mets’ Citi Field in Queens, Jackson forgot the third verse’s lyrics “O’er the ramparts we watched,” repeating “What so proudly we hailed” before taking a breath and finding his place with “Were so gallantly streaming.”
The performance was broadcast on national television by Peacock.
Ultimately, the stumble was a minor bump as the crowd cheered Jackson on and came to jubilant shouts and applause by the time he reached the crescendo on “O’er the land of the free.” At the end of the anthem, the attendees in the 42,000-capacity stadium seemed to have already forgotten the flub up and were ready to play ball.
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The incident will likely be a blip in the award-winning stage maestro’s legacy. Along with other prominent accolades, Jackson was part of the Hamilton squad that won the 2016 Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album. He also won an Emmy for a song on “Sesame Street.”
In 2025, Jackson was in Hell’s Kitchen, the Broadway jukebox musical based on the music of Alicia Keys.
— welovesports40 (@welovesports40) March 26, 2026