After a catastrophic performance of the national anthem at the NBA All-Stars game over the weekend, Fergie has released a statement addressing the backlash and insisting that she 'tried [her] best' despite the outcome. It takes guts to concede a bad gig, so she's most wholeheartedly forgiven.

Fergie at 'The Four' season finaleFergie at 'The Four' season finale

She's not the first and she most certainly won't be the last singer to try and transform 'The Star-Spangled Banner' into some contemporary classic. And her version will indeed go down in history - as one of the worst performances in history.

'I've always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA', she said in a statement to TMZ. 'I'm a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn't strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.'

Indeed, Fergie is an excellent vocalist, and one of the reasons why the Black Eyed Peas have won so many Grammys and American Music Awards. But sometimes there's only one way to do a song, and the National Anthem is one that only works with an enormous helping of soul.

Thankfully, she wasn't singing at the Super Bowl, so the performance at the Los Angeles' Staples Center is likely to be forgotten eventually. And no-one will try putting a jazz spin on it ever again.

'It actually didn't sound so bad at first', one attendee told People fairly. 'Everyone was just trying to figure out what was going on. Like, was she about to break out into a different song? Then she started doing all those ranges and it just went downhill.'

More: Fergie's disastrous national anthem performance

TMZ also caught up with Mariah Carey to get her to offer some advice to Fergie about dealing with the criticism. 'Darling, nobody needs to listen to that!' She said.