October 30, 2015
Contributed Art/YouTube
Patti LaBelle sings the national anthem at the Sixers 2015-16 home opener against the Utah Jazz on October 30, 2015.
Facing the Utah Jazz Friday night for their 2015-16 home opener, the Sixers and fans in attendance at the (sort of) Wells Fargo Center got a particularly, well, jazzy rendition of the national anthem from local music legend Patti LaBelle.
The 71-year-old singer took every conceivable liberty in a performance that never once stalled as the crowd, along for the ride, reacted with cheers and applause. One fan caught the performance and posted it on YouTube (minus the "Oh, say can you...").
Major respect to LaBelle, whose reputation precedes her, for belting at all registers and winding the anthem to a resolution. It's always refreshing to hear an adventurous performance of a beloved song everyone's heard countless times.
Purely for style points, she's now up there with Bobby Yang's phenomenal violin performance before a Monday Night Football game last October.
