There was awkward silence and panic before mayor’s speech. Then Gail started singing

Gail Seay was in the audience watching the ceremony featuring her boss, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, when an awkward silence filled the City Commission chambers.

The police officer expected to sing the national anthem that morning didn’t come to the microphone when called, sparking panic among Suarez’s staff until they remembered Seay could sing. “I was standing at attention,” Seay recalled Friday afternoon. “Then they all went: Gail, go!”

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So Seay, dressed in a pink blazer and matching pearls, hustled to the microphone, faced the audience and delivered what appeared to be a flawless rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

“It was just from the heart, from the spirit,” said Seay, deputy director of constituent affairs in Suarez’s office.

She’s a regular singer, leading the choir at her church every Sunday. Seay also grew up around music, with brothers who made careers as musicians and a nephew who penned songs on a Beyoncé album.

There was no immediate explanation for what happened to the original anthem singer, a regular at ceremonial Miami events, beyond there being a logistical mix-up that wasn’t discovered until the time came for the song.

Seay said she wasn’t nervous having to sing on the spot, without the national anthem words before her. She’s sung it enough that the lyrics come easily, including twice before for Suarez events. She said one was a Fourth of July celebration at a city park where Suarez served as guest conductor of the orchestra.

As he started his State of the City speech, Suarez broke from the script to comment on Seay’s surprise performance. “There’s a moment that you see something’s wrong,” Suarez told the audience. “And then, of course, Gail, who is a member of my staff, steps up. And you hear her. And you think: God is perfect.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2023 at 4:02 PM.