Canadian singer Rufus Wainwright changes O Canada lyrics at World Series to protest Trump's '51st state' comments

Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright sparked debate Wednesday night after tweaking the lyrics of O Canada during his performance at Game 5 of the World Series in Los Angeles.

Before the Toronto Blue Jays faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in a contest that saw the Blue Jays win 6-2, Wainwright sang the national anthem in both English and French at Dodger Stadium. But instead of the official lyric, “in all of us command,” he sang “that only us command.” The Montreal-raised artist didn’t offer an explanation for the change, but it has been perceived to be a slight against President Donald Trump and his rhetoric of Canada being the 51st state.

It’s the second time this week that a Canadian performer has altered the anthem at the World Series. During Game 3, Toronto-born musician JP Saxe sang “our home on native land” instead of “our home and native land,” a reference to Indigenous land rights in Canada.

Wainwright’s version also echoed a protest performance earlier this year by fellow Canadian artist Chantal Kreviazuk, who made the same alteration during the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey final in Boston. Kreviazuk said at the time that her word change was meant to rebuke President Trump’s “51st state” comments about Canada.

The anthem has been forced into the culture war in Canadian politics and pop culture in recent years. In 2023, singer Jully Black made headlines at the NBA All-Star Game for swapping “our home and native land” with “our home on native land,” saying the change was intended to honor Indigenous peoples who “have often been overlooked.”

“I wouldn’t have sung it if I didn’t believe it should be this,” Black said after her performance. “This one word would significantly give honour, support and recognition to the Indigenous community.”

Black added that she had declined multiple invitations to perform O Canada in past years while she supposedly educated herself about so-called reconciliation efforts and the history of Indigenous relations in the country.

The English lyrics of O Canada were last officially changed in 2018, when the Trudeau government passed Bill C-210 to make the anthem gender-neutral. The previous line, “True patriot love in all thy sons command,” was replaced with “True patriot love in all of us command.” The French version remained untouched.

O Canada became the official national anthem in 1980 after being used for nearly a century at public events in both English and French. Any future lyric changes would require a vote in Parliament.