Flavor Flav Defends National Anthem Performance and Says He Wanted to 'Honor' His Late Military Relatives

Flavor Flav has no regrets about stepping out of his comfort zone to sing the national anthem ahead of the Bucks-Hawks game at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Sunday.

After surprising viewers with his memorable a cappella rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," the Public Enemy member caught some flack online for his vocal stylings and responded in defense via social media on Monday.

"It may seem odd for Flavor Flav, a member of Public Enemy to do the National Anthem. But I had family that served in the United States military and I wanted to honor them," wrote the 64-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member on X (formerly Twitter).

"I had family that fought in World War 2. My dad was in the army," continued Flav in a follow-up post. "They fought for the land that we live on, and some of them didnt make it back."

The Flavor of Love star explained, "So when I was singing it, I was thinking about them and the advancements we have made in our community that I can perform the anthem."

For the performance, Flav sported one of his signature oversized clock necklaces and appeared with a smile on his face before launching into his take on the national anthem.

He may not have hit every single note, but Flav's version of the Francis Scott Key classic certainly featured a lot of passion and heart. After the gig, he posted to social media to express pride in accomplishing his first-ever national anthem performance.

"The anthem was a long time bucket list item,,, that was fun!" wrote Flav on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday evening before addressing critics of his rendition — some of whom compared Flav's vocal stylings to Fergie's infamous 2018 take on the song.

"I can’t live my life worried about what people might say about me. I won’t let that stop me from trying new things and doing things I wanna do," continued the Grammy-nominated rapper. "Some people might not like that. But a sure failure is if you stop trying."

Viewers who may have been shocked to see Flav step out of the hip-hop space for a second to showcase his singing chops should remember the "Fight the Power" emcee was a classically trained musician before he launched into hip-hop.

Flav reminded fans of his skills by sharing one X user's post featuring a video of him playing piano alongside the text, "Fun fact: Flavor Flav was a musical prodigy. As a child he taught himself to play 15 different instruments. Like Mozart, he has the unique talent of hearing a song and replicating it by ear."

According to a 2006 interview with the star published by Entertainment Weekly, Flav "sang in the youth choir at his church and mastered the piano, drums, and guitar at an early age."