Before making global headlines for altering the O Canada lyrics to include the controversial statement “all lives matter”, social media followers of Remigio Pereira were well aware of his outspoken opinions. The Canadian anthem wasn’t shown live on US television, but it aired in Canada, where the decision to change the words drew a whirlwind of criticism on social media.
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The Tenors called the singer, Remigio Pereira, a “lone wolf” who disrespected Canada and the All-Star Game’s traditions by using a massive stage to express his political views. It read “All Lives Matter” and “United We Stand”.
The singing group The Tenors, apologized on Twitter after the performance, calling it “a disrespectful and misguided lack of judgement by one member of the group acting as a ‘lone wolf'”. While the publicity stunt didn’t air on TV in the U.S.it did on make it onto the telecast in Canada and hit the Internet soon after.
Pereira soon tweeted his own apology, citing the lyric change as motived by the hope for “one love”. Watching video of the performance, it appears that his brothers in song were unprepared for his actions and the “we” reference suggested their involvement.
In addition to Pereira, the Tenors also consists Clifton Murray, Fraser Walters and Victor Micallef.
The British Columbia-based group quickly issued an apology during the game and placed the blame exclusively on Pereira.
The suspended singer issued in the aftermath of the controversy an airy “peace” and “love” and “harmony” message, which suggests that the nuances of the whole “black lives matter”/”all lives matter” may have got lost in translation from Newspeak to English across the border.
A controversial rendition of O Canada sung by a member of The Tenors was an attempt to undermine the rallying cry of Black Lives Matter, a co-founder of the Toronto chapter said Wednesday.
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“I am disturbed that people would attribute anything other than the purest of intentions to my actions. Our honest apologies and regrets go out to everybody who witnessed this shameful act”. With multiple platinum albums under their belts, the quartet even won “Adult Contemporary Album of the Year” at the 2013 Juno Awards.
