Remembering When The “Feliz Navidad” Singer Almost Incited A Riot In Michigan

However, the performance that was so controversial was the country's national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner.

The Puerto Rican musician was invited by broadcast legend Ernie Harwell to perform at Tiger Stadium during the height of the Vietnam war protests on October 7, 1968 during a game between the Tigers and the Cardinals.

The version that he played was a slower, Latin jazz-style performance of the national anthem, which many people felt was a complete desecration of the country. The version, in fact, infuriated many people, however, people would learn to understand why he did what he did. If you listen to it below, it was actually quite beautiful.

Ernie Harwell remained positive about the performance itself and even requested that he return to perform the song, shortly before his death in 2010.

This time the performance was met with applause and appreciation.

We can all understand that back, then there were a lot of racial insecurities in America, and the country did not always handle it with grace.

When he was asked to perform it again in 2018 at another Tigers/Cardinals game, it was once again applauded with the undertones of hatred, as Harrell would have put it…Loooooooooong Gooooone.