Rock Legend Temporarily Forgets He's Singing the National Anthem Before Game 2 of World Series

Rock and Roll Hall-of-Fame inductee James Taylor was brought in to sing the national anthem before Thursday's Game 2 of the World Series at Fenway Park in Boston. However, he seems to have gotten two American classics temporarily mixed up.

Taylor began with the first two words of "America the Beautiful" before almost seamlessly transitioning back to the national anthem. While there's still some debate over what actually happened here, the rock legend's apparent ability to save his performance without freaking out or starting over is pretty impressive.

(YouTube)

USA Today blog "For the Win" speculates that it may have not been a mistake at all:

The transition is so smooth and so quick, it might have just been Taylor taking some creative license at the beginning of the song, a little flourish to remind everyone out there that he’s James Taylor and he can do that sort of thing.

The transition really was that flawless -- maybe he is that cool. Or maybe he made a goofy mistake and recovered gracefully. Watch and decide for yourself:

We will bring you the rest of Taylor's rendition of the national anthem when that video is available.

–

[related]