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World Series anthem singer messes up lyrics to O Canada in both French and English

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Oct 30 2025, 12:55 am
World Series anthem singer messes up lyrics to O Canada in both French and English
Sportsnet

Toronto Blue Jays fans prepping to watch Game 5 of the World Series were treated to an interesting rendition of the Canadian national anthem.

Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright got the mic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and messed up the lyrics in both French and English. The 52-year-old singer was born in New York, but does hold Canadian citizenship.

Singing the bilingual version of “O Canada,” the anthem singer managed to get the lyrics wrong in both French and English. He sang “True patriot love that only us can command” instead of “True patriot love in all of us command,” and then followed that up with multiple mistakes in the French portion of the anthem.

Of course, Blue Jays fans had a field day with this one as they immediately took to social media to air their complaints with Wainwright’s interesting performance. Many were baffled by how a singer could get the lyrics so wrong during such a big event like the World Series.

Others commented that it was unique to see a bilingual version of the anthem even attempted for a game in L.A.

This wouldn’t be the first time that a singer at Dodger Stadium drew criticism from fans, as plenty of people criticized J.P. Saxe’s rendition of “O Canada” before Game 3.

The Jays must have taken the mistakes personally, as they hit back-to-back home runs on the first two pitches of the game, off the bats of Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

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