Mayor slams singer who changed lyrics to "Star-Spangled Banner"

Defiant, singer says she "would do it again"

by Ginger Delgado, News2

July 3, 2008

DENVER (KWGN) — The Mayor of Denver had some harsh words for the jazz singer who he says deceived the city.

In what the he called his "final statement" about this, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said jazz singer Rene Marie was out of line when she chose to make a political statement during his state of the city address. Marie, who'd been asked to sing the national anthem, instead chose to sing the words to another song, "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing,", sometimes called the Black National Anthem, to the tune of the "Star-Spangled Banner."

Mayor Hickenlooper was visibly upset Wednesday when he called a press conference on the steps of the City/County building. He says the bottom line is, the city was deceived by one woman's choice to make a political statement at the wrong place and the wrong time. And he says, since she won't apologize, he will, to every citizen in this city who was offended.

At 4:00 Wednesday, Hickenlooper made his final statement on what he called a surprise move by someone he trusted, saying, "We had no idea this was going to happen. This is not something the City of Denver would ever sanction or condone."

Hickenlooper said, "We didn't pay her, so I mean, there was no contract. We asked her to come sing the national anthem and we expected her to come sing the national anthem and we were disappointed and frustrated that that did not happen."

But late Tuesday afternoon, Marie told reporters, "If you're an artist and you have an artistic expression to make, do you ask someone's permission before you do it? These are things I wrestle with and the way I feel right now is, I would do it again." Marie says she did it to express how she felt for her country, as a black woman living in the U.S.

But the mayor says her selfish decision overshadowed his speech and months of hard work. "Once a year, we take all the work from the city workforce, my cabinet, all my appointees working their fingers to the bone to make this city better and it gets diminished and disrespected because someone's making a political statement."

On talk radio Wednesday morning, Governor Bill Ritter called Marie's actions inappropriate. "She was invited to do one thing and she chose to do another. I think it's a fair interpretation to say it's disrespectful."

So much so, that Mayor Hicklooper has vowed it will never happen again, he says, even if he has to sing the national anthem himself.