Steven Tyler took a lot of heat (including from us) for his rendition of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ before the Baltimore Ravens / New England Patriots AFC title game last month (Jan. 22) in Foxborough, Mass., but the Aerosmith singer insists he did a fine job. He says any eccentricities in his performance were on purpose and he knows he nailed the high note.

“I don’t know. As I said before, I put emphasis on, ’In the land of the free’ and I went up,” Tyler told his hometown paer, the Boston Herald. “Oddly enough I hit the note so I don’t know what they are talking about. I emphasized ’free’ which was for freedom. It was well thought out prior to. I wasn’t messing with American tradition.”

Tyler isn’t getting another shot at the national anthem before the Super Bowl, but he is in Indianapolis to perform over Super Bowl weekend. Tyler and country superstar Carrie Underwood are teaming up Saturday (Feb. 4) to play an event for ‘CMT Crossroads,’ which brings together acts from different genres. The concert itself is a private showcase, but CMT will air it later that day at 11PM ET.

“I just love to sing and I love her stuff,” Tyler explains. “A good friend of mine writes songs with her. When I heard [the Underwood hit] ’Undo It,’ I said, ’What is that?’ That is an Aerosmith song, right? I am going to finish recording that with you. He said, ’No, I wrote that with Carrie, it is coming out in a week.’ I met her and it was all over after that, once I looked into her eyes. She opened her mouth and sang and she is that good. I loved singing with her.”

As for Underwood, the former ‘American Idol’ winner says she enjoys working with the current ‘Idol’ judge because he ”makes everybody all warm and fuzzy.”

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