--- title: John Legend: Colin Kaepernick National Anthem Question description: After Colin Kaepernick announced that he would continue to boycott the National Anthem, John Legend took to Twitter to pose a question. canonical: https://time.com/4472717/john-legend-colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-30T17:42:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:01.529Z og:title: John Legend Suggests New National Anthem og:description: And a suggestion for a "Star Spangled Banner" replacement og:url: https://time.com/4472717/john-legend-colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9544ca7a92e3338/6988a437656a3f7008bccec2/screen-shot-2016-08-30-at-12-15-22-pm.png?branch=production&width=1026&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1026 og:image:height: 577 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 12.15.22 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Legend Suggests New National Anthem twitter:description: And a suggestion for a "Star Spangled Banner" replacement twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9544ca7a92e3338/6988a437656a3f7008bccec2/screen-shot-2016-08-30-at-12-15-22-pm.png?branch=production&width=1026&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Legend Has a Question for People Protesting Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6ac9721f-7208-4159-91a4-c4737bfc7b20&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 30, 2016 5:42 PM UTC  John Legend attends his introduction as a (BELVEDERE) RED Brand Ambassador at The Apollo Theater on August 27, 2016 in New York City. John Legend attends his introduction as a (BELVEDERE) RED Brand Ambassador at The Apollo Theater on August 27, 2016 in New York City. Steve Mack/WireImage  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 30, 2016 5:42 PM UTC The Internet has been abuzz about [Colin Kaepernick](http://time.com/4469350/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest/) since the San Francisco 49ers quarterback [refused to stand](http://time.com/4470998/athletes-protest-colin-kaepernick/) during the singing of the national anthem before a game Friday, with many posting on social media to denounce his actions. But tensions increased Monday following Kaepernick’s announcement that he would [continue to boycott the song](http://time.com/4470444/colin-kaepernick-49ers-national-anthem-protest/) because he chose not to “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” according to an [NFL interview](http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/%5F/id/17411437/san-francisco-49ers-qb-colin-kaepernick-sit-national-anthem-sees-change-america). In wake of these events, John Legend took to Twitter to pose a question to people criticizing the NFL player’s decision. “For those defending the current anthem, do you really truly love that song?,” he tweeted. “I don’t and I’m very good at singing it. Like, one of the best.” > [](https://twitter.com/johnlegend/status/770476808143826944) **Quiz**: [_Can You Guess These Back to School Prices?_](http://time.com/4461726/back-to-school-prices/) The 37-year-old singer also weighed in with a suggestion to replace the “Star Spangled Banner” with “America the Beautiful,” linking out to an article about the current anthem’s racist history. > [](https://twitter.com/johnlegend/status/770469594146435072) \[h/t [Vulture](http://www.vulture.com/2016/08/john-legend-has-best-burn-for-kaepernick-haters.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4472717/john-legend-colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4472717/john-legend-colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest/"},"headline":"John Legend Has a Question for People Protesting Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest","datePublished":"2016-08-30T17:42:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:01.529Z","description":"And a suggestion for a \"Star Spangled Banner\" replacement","url":"https://time.com/4472717/john-legend-colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Colin Kaepernick","National Anthem","john legend"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9544ca7a92e3338/6988a437656a3f7008bccec2/screen-shot-2016-08-30-at-12-15-22-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9544ca7a92e3338/6988a437656a3f7008bccec2/screen-shot-2016-08-30-at-12-15-22-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 12.15.22 PM","caption":"John Legend attends his introduction as a (BELVEDERE) RED Brand Ambassador at The Apollo Theater on August 27, 2016 in New York City.","creditText":"Steve Mack/WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4472717/john-legend-colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest/","name":"John Legend Has a Question for People Protesting Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest"}}]}] ```