Metal Singer's National Anthem Performance Sparks Criticism
Listen to the story
Anthrax is a famous heavy metal band. Joey Belladonna is the singer of Anthrax. He sang the national anthem before a football game. The game was Monday Night Football. It was between the Seahawks and the Bears.
The national anthem is called the Star-Spangled Banner. People sing it before sports games. It is a very important song for Americans. Belladonna sang it in his own style.
Many people watched the performance. Some people did not like it. They wrote angry comments online. One person called it a 'national atrocity.' An atrocity means something very bad or shocking.
The Seahawks team got a lot of criticism for this. Criticism means people saying something is bad. Some fans said the singing style was wrong for the song.
Other people did not agree. They said it was fine to sing the anthem in a new way. The story became popular on social media. People talked about it for days.
Vocabulary15 words
- heavy metal
- a loud, strong type of rock music
- national anthem
- the official song of a country
- Star-Spangled Banner
- the name of the American national anthem
- atrocity
- something very bad or shocking
- criticism
- saying something is bad
- performance
- doing something like singing in front of people
- online
- on the internet
- comments
- short messages people write
- style
- a special way of doing something
- fans
- people who like a team or singer
- social media
- websites where people share messages
- team
- a group of players
- game
- a sports match
- famous
- known by many people
- popular
- liked or talked about by many people
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Quiz
Answer key
1. Joey Belladonna 2. — 3. False
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Anthrax is a famous _____ band.
Joey Belladonna is the _____ of Anthrax.
He sang the national _____ before a football game.
The game was Monday Night _____.
It was between the Seahawks and the _____.
The national anthem is called the _____.
Belladonna sang it in his own _____.
One person called it a national _____.
The Seahawks team got a lot of _____ for this.
The story became _____ on social media.
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