Even before the Los Angeles Dodgers took an early lead against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, Canadian baseball fans found themselves complaining — about the national anthem that started Game 3 of the World Series.
“Who is this guy singing O Canada? They said he was grammy nominated,” a Facebook user posted in a public Blue Jays fan group.
After Canadian singer JP Saxe stood solo and sang O Canada a capella in front of the tens of thousands of fans lining Dodger Stadium, his performance prompted an outpouring of criticism on social media.
“JP Saxe was… not it,” one user on X said.
“Who the hell is JP Saxe and this can’t be the best Canada has to offer. That was just awful,” another person wrote.
Mostly, criticism focused on the quality of his singing, but some Blue Jays fans took issue with Saxe’s decision to modify the national anthem’s lyrics. Instead of singing “our home and native land,” he sang “our home on native land.”
WATCH | JP Saxe sings O Canada at World Series:
Notably, the 32-year-old singer isn’t the first artist to make this tweak. Canadian R&B singer Jully Black also made the change when she sang the national anthem ahead of the NBA All-Star game in Salt Lake City in 2023, to draw attention to colonialism in Canada and the ways in which Indigenous people have been mistreated across the country as a result.
Black’s performance was largely supported. Still, she faced critics online, too.
“I think they’re missing the point, that there’s been so much taken from Indigenous peoples and it’s an opportunity to have a conversation and to impact change and to be a part of the change,” Black told CBC’s Elamin Abdelmahmoud at the time.
While comments criticizing Saxe proliferated online, others defended the singer-songwriter. “Come on people … he is someone’s son and was proud to sing our anthem … why are we so judgemental?” one person said on Facebook.
CBC News reached out to Saxe for comment, but did not hear back by the time of posting.
Saxe made headlines earlier this year for sharing on social media that he was struggling to sell tickets to his latest tour. In the end, despite the attention his public plea received, he had to cancel his tour.
Following this news, fellow 2025 World Series performers the Jonas Brothers invited Saxe out to sing his hit song If the World Was Ending at the Toronto stop of their Greetings From Your Hometown Tour at the Rogers Centre in August.
Coincidentally, the Jonas Brothers’ performance during Game 1 — of their song I Can’t Lose, in partnership with the charity Stand Up To Cancer — has also received criticism, as many fans said it interrupted the flow of the game at a tense, crucial moment.
Tuesday, Deborah Cox will be performing the Canadian national anthem during Game 4 of the World Series. Known for songs like Beautiful U R, the award-winning multi-platinum recording artist and producer has been nominated for a Grammy and inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Canadian-American Juno winner and Grammy nominee Rufus Wainwright will sing O Canada at Game 5.
