That Time When Steven Tyler Butchered The National Anthem And A C-5 Saved The Performance

We occasionally joke about the C-5. The legacy C-5A has a tendency to be loud, often broken, and a little whiny. But there was a time when the C-5 stole the show.

Back in 2012, the AFC Championship Game was held at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots invited Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. His voice is normally raspy but his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner fell short of expectations. It was pitchy and a little offbeat.  Fortunately, the staff had a backup plan. Right on cue, a giant C-5 appeared to bail out the poor “Crazy” singer.  Those four TF-39s never sounded so sweet. The crowd erupted. The C-5 and its crew deserved every decibel of those cheers.

The Patriots ended up losing that game 28-13 against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl that year.  Steven Tyler has not been invited back to sing the anthem at Gillette Stadium since.

Fast forward to 2018 and Eagles fans are doing everything they can to bring a classic C-5A out of the boneyard for a flyover.  They were also hoping that Steven Tyler would show up to sing the anthem in Minnesota.  But no luck there.  All the C-5As have been either retired or converted to the much quieter C-5M model.

Thanks to Steve Antonellis for posting the unique video.

BONUS: Conan made fun of the performance and the C-5 made a cameo.