The Chicks are slammed for VERY off-key performance of the Star-Spangled Banner at DNC

Country legends The Chicks were heavily panned for an awkwardly off-key performance of the National Anthem at the Democrat National Convention.

The Nashville natives, who created a firestorm of controversy 20 years ago over criticism of George W. Bush and the Iraq War, were a highly-anticipated get for the DNC on its final night.

However, their performance of the Star-Spangled Banner was almost universally slammed, even by fans of the band formerly known as 'The Dixie Chicks' before dropping the d-word in 2020.

David Knowles wrote: 'Still marveling at how off-key the Chicks' rendition of the national anthem was.'

'That was terrible and I like their music,' added one social media user on X.

Country legends The Chicks drew a heavily negative reaction for an off-key performance of the National Anthem at the Democrat National Convention

Others were a little more agitated: 'wow…. Maybe your monitors weren’t working. Idk. But that was horrible. At least you had the dignity to finish then smile. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost…..'

Another put it more bluntly: 'Incredibly off-key. Great job, you has beens.' 

'They sounded like they had sound-hearing issues. The Chicks are iconic for their harmonies... something must have gone wrong,' wrote a more sympathetic listener. 

The band - Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer - made no reference to the audio quality, simply retweeting a video from a pro-Kamala Harris account.

The outspoken country group sparked outrage back in 2003 after Maines spoke out against President George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq during a show in the UK.

Her comments enraged their largely conservative fanbase, leading to a boycott of their music which devastated album sales and tanked their position on the charts.

Maines' comments even resulted in death threats towards the band, prompting them to beef up security presence during their 2003 Top Of The World Tour.

Feeling rejected by the country community, Maguire told the German publication Der Spiegel: 'We don't feel a part of the country scene any longer, it can't be our home anymore... We now consider ourselves part of the big rock 'n' roll family.'

Rename: The Dixie Chicks quietly changed their name, dropping the word Dixie, and have rebranded as The Chicks on Thursday and released a music video for their anthem March March

Following years of backlash over the comments, the group released the album Taking The Long Way in 2006.

Despite worries the controversy would still plague the stars, the album was both a critical and commercial success.

Taking The Long Way debuted at number one on both the US pop album and country album charts. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, the band won five trophies, including Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year.

While the group has performed on and off in the years since, they've largely been out of the spotlight since Taking The Long Way - save for a few high-profile awards and festival appearances. 

Gaslighter, The Chicks' first album in 14-years, was released in 2020.

The group quietly changed their name, dropping the word Dixie, and rebranded as The Chicks on June 25.

Natalie Maines, Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Strayer changed their band's social media handles to The Chicks but released no statement about the new moniker.

While the trio didn't give a reason for the name change, the band has faced growing pressure recently to re-name due to the link between the word Dixie and the racial history of the South. 

Speaking out: The outspoken country group sparked outrage back in 2003 after Maines spoke out against President George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq during a show in the UK. Above in 2003

Riled up: Her comments enraged their largely conservative fanbase, leading to a boycott of their music which devastated album sales and tanked their position on the charts. Above protesters from a May 2003 concert in Knoxville, Tennessee are seen

Dixie is a term used for parts of the Southern United States, particularly the states the made up the Confederacy. 

The Confederacy was an area of slave-holding states below the Mason-Dixon line that seceded from the union over the issue of wanting to keep slavery in place, leading to the U.S. Civil War. 

People have taken to social media recently to put pressure on the Dixie Chicks to change their name due to the implications of the word Dixie, particularly considering the fact that the trio has established themselves as liberal country stars. 

A recent opinion column in Variety also asked whether now was the finally the time for the Dixie Chicks to change their name and suggested that the answer was an obvious 'yes'.

The author, Jeremy Helligar, called the term Dixie the 'epitome of white America' and called out the Dixie Chicks for being silent regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. 'Their silence has been deafening,' he penned. 

The group also declared their support for the Black Lives Matter movement by debuting a brand new music video for their anthem, March March, which features scenes of protests throughout history.