Mary J. Blige Sings "The National Anthem" At The Kentucky Derby

Mary J. Blige Sings The National Anthem photo credit: Necole Bitchie

The Queen of Hip Hop, Mary J. Blige performed, " The National Anthem" at Kentucky's legendary, "Kentucky Derby".  Mary looked fabulous as usual in the red ensemble. This is a great another great milestone for Mary J. as it has been denoted that initially the idea of her bringing soul in a performance of the national anthem did not set well with the Kentucky Derby fanbase. 

According to NecoleBitchie,

Mary J Blige brought some soul to Churchhill Downs this year as she sang the ‘National Anthem’ at The Kentucky Derby, however it wasn’t smoothing sailing leading up to the event. Folks were livid when it was first announced that she would be singing at the ‘The Derby’ and the local news lines were flooded with calls andcomplaints.  For the most part, fans of the event feared that Mary might jazz up the song too much, however, a rep from the Kentucky Derby brushed off their complaints with a statement that read:

‘We’ve hosted the Derby for 137 years, we’re quick to find out that you can’t please everybody all the time but Mary J. Blige is a very exciting and talented individual that we can’t wait to host on Derby day’.

Check out Mary J's performance below.