WATCH: How a Trumpeter’s Quick Thinking Saved His MLB National Anthem Solo After Malfunctions

When Jesse McGuire, a Black jazz musician, stepped onto Chase Field in Phoenix ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game last Saturday, he planned to do what he’s done for decades: play the “Star-Spangled Banner” on his trumpet. Although the moment commemorated his most life-changing performance ever, he wasn’t nervous: “I try not to let the magnitude of any event overwhelm me,” he said. Then, disaster struck.

For the first time ever, his $20,000 horn stopped working mid-performance. “God, no. Come on, God,” he thought to himself as he fiddled with the trumpet’s valves. Within seconds, he picked up a microphone in front of him to sing where he left off.

The audience roared in amazement, and when the video later picked up views on social media, people praised his quick action and solid singing voice: “Works well under pressure,” one commenter wrote.

McGuire’s National Anthem and “God Bless America” trumpet performance on the same field for Game 7 of the 2001 World Series made him famous. Despite his achievements, playing at that particular game, in which the Diamondbacks bested the New York Yankees to win the Major League Baseball championship, became the defining moment of his career.

Following that coveted opportunity, he said he lost gigs, friends and favor with the Phoenix trumpet community out of jealousy. One radio host allegedly tried to discredit him on-air, saying McGuire, who was previously lead trumpeter for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, was “not a jazz musician.” But his few minutes on national and international television cemented his moniker as the Diamondbacks’ “good-luck charm.”

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That famed 2001 gig almost didn’t come together, the trumpeter told The Root. He had been playing for the team’s games for a while, and fans started to take notice of how the Diamondbacks won nearly every time he played his worship-infused rendition of the song.

“Sports teams are superstitious, especially in baseball,” McGuire said.

But the World Series games were pushed back that year due to 9/11, and McGuire signed a contract to play at a San Francisco 49ers game the same day as the final game of the World Series. Then, days prior, Rob Heller of William Morris Agency called to convince him to play his trumpet once more for the Diamondbacks: “He said, ‘This is an offer that you cannot refuse.’” Since then, McGuire’s played the “Star-Spangled Banner” around the globe and other countries’ national anthems at U.S. events.

As for McGuire’s gig last week, he still doesn’t know why his trumpet malfunctioned: “I left that trumpet on the ground in that stadium with no intention of ever picking it up again.” Donna McGuire, his wife and manager, ended up getting the pricey instrument, and the manufacturer called days later asking to inspect it.

While the professional trumpeter doesn’t know why it happened, he sees it as divine intervention: “God can definitely step on your plans. That’s what happened to me.”