In the days leading up to the Super Bowl 52, pop star Pink, who was scheduled to perform the national anthem at the event, shared an Instagram post in which she came clean about battling the flu.
The mother-of-two revealed that she had contracted the virus from her children, and that she was bummed because she had "been waiting to sing this song since 1991 when I saw my idol, Whitney Houston, own this song."
She continued, "And now, my chance has finally come. And it just so happens that this chance comes when I have two small Petri dish kids who literally cough INTO MY MOUTH and rub their snot on my cheek. You can't write this stuff I swear! And here we are. I've arrived at another one of my dreams which is slowly becoming a sort of nightmare. I will tell you, this is one of the biggest honors of my life, singing this song in front of my family, my military family, my dad and brother and step mama and family and the world. And the EAGLES!?!?!"
The "Perfect" singer then promised to "do my best, as I always do," and she's definitely a woman of her word. On Sunday, Pink, whose real name is Alecia Beth Moore, stood on a football shaped podium at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota and delivered a fantastic performance of the patriotic song. Had she not disclosed that she was suffering from the flu, we wouldn't have guessed.
People, including celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, immediately took to social media to weigh in on the singer's version of the "Star Spangled Banner."
"@Pink, you are amazing. Always," tweeted DeGeneres.
.@Pink, you are amazing. Always.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) February 4, 2018
Sheryl Crow called the performance "best I've ever heard!" while singer Josh Groban quipped that "Pink singing that well with the flu is goals..."
However, there was one person who wasn't impressed with Pink's performance, and they were very vocal about their dissatisfaction. But Pink wasn't about to let them get away with bashing her rendition of the anthem.
Not only did the Twitter troll criticize Pink, they also called her fans "dumb."
"If I've said it once, I've said it 1000 times. Pink sucks and if you like her singing you're dumb #SuperBowl."
As soon as Pink saw the mean tweet, she stood up to the cyber bully with the best response. She tweeted, "Yeah but at least I suck while singing our countries national anthem, and you just suck by yourself on a dirty couch. #winning."
Yeah but altleast I suck while singing our countries national anthem, and you just suck by yourself on a dirty couch. #winning https://t.co/SfLQr9hVTq
— P!nk (@Pink) February 5, 2018
Shortly after, she sent out another, much more positive message, this time to her fans.
"All of your prayers and well wishes and candles got me through," the singer captioned a photo of herself and her daughter. "Thank you for all of your love and support. We *heart emoji* you."
All of your prayers and well wishes and candles got me through. Thankyou for all of your love and support. We â¤ï¸ you. #SuperBowl2018 pic.twitter.com/x9M6XYV3Ny
— P!nk (@Pink) February 5, 2018
Pink was also at the center of another controversy last night. Right before anthem, the cameras were on her while she removed what many thought was gum out of her mouth. After much speculation, the woman of the hour herself cleared up the confusion.
She tweeted that "it was a throat lozange."
It was a throat lozenge
— P!nk (@Pink) February 5, 2018
Considering she has the flu, we can see why she'd want to keep the lozange in her mouth for as long as possible to soothe her throat before belting out all those high notes. Regardless of what the critics say, Pink showed up and didn't falter, and for that she deserves to be praised, not bashed.
