Flavor Flav is known for a lot of things: wearing that giant clock for the past 38 years, serving as Public Enemy rapper Chuck D’s colorful on-stage foil and an unencumbered enthusiasm that helped propel the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But on Sunday (Oct. 29), the Milwaukee Bucks gave Flav a job he said was on his all-time bucket list: performing the National Anthem before the home team’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. “The anthem was a long time bucket list item,,, that was fun!,” Flav wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “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. Some people might not like that. But a sure failure is if you stop trying.”
Wearing a green No. 59 jersey (in honor of the year he was born), sideways white baseball hat, white shades and, of course, his signature big clock, Flav, 64, came out of the gate a bit shaky, but soon overcame his nerves and crooned the notoriously difficult-to-sing anthem in his own inimitable fashion. He wasn’t always near pitch, but Flav stretched out some notes in his nasal croon to the delight of the home crowd and smiling players. And by the time he hit the “home of the brave” line — which he repeated three times — the arena burst out into loud cheers for a job well done.
Check out Flav’s statement and his “Star-Spangled” performance below.