Fans divided on Jewel’s take on national anthem at Indy 500

While the Indianapolis 500 certainly delivered plenty of action on track, fans were divides as to whether they enjoyed Jewel’s performance of the national anthem.

The 49-year-old delivered an acoustic version of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ at the event before the drivers hit the track.

The singer, dressed in an all-white outfit and a cowboy hat with a checkered bandana, completed her look with a blue acoustic performance.

While the performance was a unique take on the song, and similar to her performance during the 2023 NBA All-Star Game just three months ago, fans were split on whether they enjoyed the performance or not.

“For the love of god, just sing the national anthem as it’s meant to be sung. Don’t put your own spin on it. Sacrilegious. Ugh,” wrote one fan, with another writing: “Jewel butchered the national anthem at the Indy 500. People were trying to sing along but couldn’t because of the way she sang it. What a shame.”

Another wrote: “STOP CHANGING THE MELODY AND RHYTHM OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.”

Some fans backed Jewel

Not everyone was angered by the performance, with many rushing to the defence of the singer.

“You go girl, there’s not many artists that can pull off a unique interpretation of the National Anthem, but you sure did, Jewel,” wrote one supporter.

Another wrote: “I don’t care who attacks me for this, but I loved Jewel’s National Anthem. I think it gave the words more meaning. As someone who’s heard it 1000s of times in my career, I was really listening to her and reflecting on the words.”

One fan wrote: “Never felt patriotic in my whole life til sitting through jewel singing the national anthem at the indy 500.”

While fans will continue to talk about the performance, they were also treated to quite the finish at Sunday’s race.

Josef Newgarden crossed the line to take his first ever Indy 500 in a wild finish that saw three crashes in the final 16 laps.