Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea divides opinion with bass rendition of US national anthem
Watch it in all its glory here
Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Flea performed a bass only rendition of the American national anthem to mark basketball player Kobe Bryant's final game for the LA Lakers last night – and it’s fair to say it has divided opinion!
With 18,000 spectators at the Staples Center and millions of TV viewers looking on, Flea launched into a unique interpretation of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ shortly before the match against Utah Jazz kicked off.
Packed with plenty of “wah-wahs”, pace changes, effects and deviations from the original tune, the performance sparked an explosion of (mainly derisive) comments on social media.
One wrote: “Love RHCP, but that was kinda underwhelming, especially for Kobe's final game.”
Another blasted: “Been a fan of Flea for years now but man he butchered it! too much showing off, you can barely recognize the anthem.”
Others were more complimentary, with Rob Z writing: “That was badass. Y'all are crazy.”
You can check out more reactions below.
In case you were wondering, Los Angeles Lakers beat Utah Jazz 101-96 in the game itself.