From Daily Mail: A Canadian singer has been suspended from an operatic vocal group after he changed the lyrics to his country’s anthem and held up a sign reading ‘All Lives Matter’ during a pre-game performance at Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game.
Remigio Pereira and the rest of The Tenors quartet were singing ‘O Canada’ with at San Diego’s Petco Park when he made the controversial statement that outraged supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The other members of The Tenors apologized and distanced themselves from Pereira, calling him a ‘lone wolf’ and announcing he will not be performing with them ‘until further notice’.
It appears his days with the group may be numbered, with one member suggesting he will not return. ‘I don’t think we can see ourselves performing with Remigio again,’ said group member Fraser Walters in an interview with CBC News.
Walters said he was sorry the anthem was ‘compromised’ and insisted Pereira took it upon himself to ‘take a political stand.’
Video of the incident shows the other three members wordlessly harmonizing the anthem as Pereira sings the altered lyrics. After the incident the group released a blistering statement, saying Pereira acted alone and was disrespectful and selfish.
The change happened during the middle portion of the anthem, which is frequently sung in French at sporting events. Pereira unexpectedly sang: ‘We’re all brothers and sisters. All lives matter to the great.’ The normal lyric is ‘With glowing hearts we see thee rise. The True North strong and free.’ ‘All Lives Matter’ was written on the front of his sign, and ‘United We Stand’ was written on the back.
Remigio doing the unthinkable: Holding up an “All Lives Matter” sign
That first phrase – ‘All Lives Matter’ – has become a common online response in recent months to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, particularly after the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile last week.
Although the motivations and ethnicities of those saying ‘All Lives Matter’ vary, it has received heavy criticism from people who say it serves to trivialize and erase the specific struggles faced by black people.
In a statement on Facebook, Pereira, who was born in Boston and raised in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, said he wasn’t attempting to undermine Black Lives Matter. ‘I’ve been so moved lately by the tragic loss of life and I hoped for a positive statement that would bring us ALL together,’ he wrote. ‘ONE LOVE. That was my singular motivation when I said all lives matter. I am disturbed that people would attribute anything other than the purist of intentions to my actions.’
He also faced criticism and ridicule for earlier Facebook posts which supported the conspiracy theory that the earth is flat. The posts have since been deleted.
Meanwhile, many fans at Petco Park reacted with surprise when they saw Pereira hold up the sign as video was broadcast on the ballpark scoreboard.
And while the Canadian anthem wasn’t shown live on US television it did air in Canada, where social media lit up with overwhelming criticism of the change. ‘WTF were they thinking?’ wrote @BrendonONeill. ‘Way to butcher a national anthem you racist pricks,’ fumed @WeirdNeil.
And @ElliottKrista said that it was okay to change the anthem ‘to be more inclusive’ – referencing the country’s decision this year to make its anthem gender neutral – but ‘NOT to erase the struggles of a minority group.’
On their Facebook and Twitter pages, the Tenors said they were ‘deeply sorry for the disrespectful and misguided lack of judgment by one member of the group acting as a “lone wolf.” ‘The other members of the group are shocked and embarrassed by the actions of Remigio Pereira, who changed the lyrics of our national anthem and used this coveted platform to serve his own political views.
‘Our sincere apologies and regrets go out to everybody who witnessed this shameful act, to our fellow Canadians, to Major League Baseball, to our friends, families, fans and to all those affected.
Read the whole story here.
DCG