ANTHRAX's JOEY BELLADONNA Slammed By NFL Fans For 'Awful' National Anthem Performance At SEATTLE SEAHAWKS Vs. CHICAGO BEARS Game

ANTHRAX frontman Joey Belladonna sang the U.S. national anthem ahead of last night's (Monday, November 2) Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears matchup on ESPN's "Monday Night Football". The 66-year-old belted out "The Star-Spangled Banner" in front of 69,000 fans at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.

Some NFL fans, who are apparently unfamiliar with ANTHRAX's music, slammed the performance on social media.

"Tonight's National Anthem on Monday night football was awful!" one wrote on X.

"I don't know who did the National Anthem but damn he sucked shit hurt my ears," another said.

"This is the worst anthem I've heard in awhile," a third added.

A fourth wrote, "Dude who sang the National Anthem sounded like Mark Wahlberg in Rockstar. That's not a compliment."

"Arrest this Anthem singer", a fifth person commented.

"Dude sang the national anthem in every key", another said.

A seventh person wrote: "Seattle brought out one of the worst National Anthem singer I have ever heard. This dude is trash."

Belladonna is not the first singer to be roasted for his rendition of the national anthem. Last month, Pat Monahan and his son got blasted for their version.

Belladonna, who has sung the U.S. national anthem at a number of sporting events over the past several years, spoke to "Panini Unwrapped" about the experience of performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in front of huge crowds of people, many of whom are unfamiliar with his name or the band's music.

"I just love doing the anthem," he said. "People get off on it. And I really respect the game and the anthem itself, so it's a pleasure to be able to be asked to be a part of that."

Asked how he would compare singing the anthem at a stadium to playing to large audiences composed of heavy metal fans, Joey said: "The anthem is even more tense, because you're all by yourself, everything goes quiet, and there's really no key to sing in. I just kind of go out there and just wing it, but I like to keep it traditional. But it is a very unnerving… Once it's ten minutes before they give you the okay [to go out there and sing], it's, like, 'Woah!' I've gotten nervous, but once you get going, you just focus on doing it."

Belladonna, whose most recent return to ANTHRAX was officially announced in May 2010, was originally the band's lead singer from 1984 to 1992, and was considered part of the group's classic lineup (alongside Dan Spitz, Scott Ian, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante),which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006. His voice was featured on over 10 albums, which reportedly sold eight million copies worldwide.

In a 2016 interview with Kazagastão, Belladonna said about his exit from ANTHRAX in 1992: "It's sucky that I was gone for that long, you know what I mean? I never understand that. It does bother me [that I was fired], even today, 'cause… We didn't miss a beat and I think we would have done… I can't imagine what we could have done along the way. No offense to anything else, but I just didn't see any reason for it."

Belladonna rejoined ANTHRAX for the 2010 "Big Four" shows, in the process helping inspire a new wave of creativity, beginning with 2011's "Worship Music".

"I think the best decision we ever made was getting our relationship with Joey back and just kind of repairing it and putting everything aside and just being on the same page again and just making music again that really means a lot to us," ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante told "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon". "And I think that's a big thing. And all the insecurities and all the idiosyncracies and all the bullshit that goes with it, just fucking throw it out the window, because it doesn't mean… It never really meant anything, but back in the day, it meant more. Nowadays, it doesn't mean shit."

ANTHRAX celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021 with a number of special activities and events. Formed by Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, ANTHRAX was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.

Active over the past five decades, ANTHRAX has released 12 studio albums, been awarded multiple gold and platinum certifications, received six Grammy nominations, toured the world since 1984 playing thousands of shows, including headlining Madison Square Garden and playing Yankee Stadium with the "Big Four".