Fans of American singer-songwriter Conan Gray have come to his defense after his performance of America's national anthem was widely criticised.
Gray, 23, walked onto the field at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday (18 July) ahead of Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby, where he proceeded to perform his rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner'.
The singer is known for tracks such as 'The Other Side', 'Crush Culture' and 'Heather', which reached the top 20 in the Official Charts in 2020.
He has more than 4,700,000 subscribers on YouTube, as well as more than 6,500,000 followers on Instagram, but it didn't seem to be his fans who started speaking about him following his performance on Monday.
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Following Gray's rendition of the song, social media users began to criticise the choice of singer, with some slamming his efforts as being among the 'worst national anthem renditions [they've] ever heard'.
One post read: "'1.) Who is Conan Gray? 2.) He may very well be the worst national anthem singer of all time. Good lord."
Sports business analyst Darren Rovell implied Gray had defied what was possible in his singing as he wrote: "There are so many great singers in this country, it's nearly impossible to have that bad of a national anthem."
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Though the response certainly isn't the most encouraging, Gray's fans were quick to stand up for him and point out the singer does have a good voice, just one perhaps not suited to singing the national anthem.
One fan commented: "conan gray is a very talented singer, the national anthem did not do his vocal style and range justice."
Another supportive Twitter user commented: "Honestly don’t think Conan Gray did a bad job singing the national anthem. Young kid, more than likely getting the hate for his appearance rather than his talents. Wasn’t incredible, def dont [sic] deserve the beating he taking online."
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Responding to one critic, a third fan wrote: "It’s not in his range. I’ve seen him live in concert and he’s incredibly talented. If you listened to any of his music you’d see that his songwriting skills are insane as well. You’re [sic] opinion was unnecessary and misinformed. Sit down please and thank you."
Gray hasn't spoken out about his performance or the response at the time of writing (20 July), but it's clear he has a supportive fanbase by his side.
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Emily Brown