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LA Times May 31, 2001

Indy Chief Apologizes for Anthem

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana--Indianapolis 500 officials have offered an apology to patriotic Americans who might have been offended by the rock 'n' roll rendition of the national anthem performed before the start of Sunday's Indy 500 over the Memorial Day weekend. Steven Tyler, lead singer of rock band Aerosmith, screeched the anthem without musical accompaniment, substituting the words "home of the Indy 500" in place of "home of the brave" in the closing stanza. "While we are certainly sorry that some were offended, it was neither our intention nor that of Mr. Tyler to be disrespectful," Tony George, president of the Speedway, said in a press release. "All of us have the utmost respect for the sacrifice our veterans have made for us."

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), May 31, 2001

Answers

That wasn't rock & roll that was bullshit. The weekend before at the Winston when some clownette sang the same stanza twice at least she could sing.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), May 31, 2001.

So either Indianapolis Speedway management was too damn stupid to anticipate the nature of Mr. Tyler's "performance," or they expected it and approved. There seems to be a lot of that going around.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), May 31, 2001.