Watch the Strokes Perform National Anthem at Maya Wiley Campaign Event

This past weekend, the Strokes held a virtual fundraiser for New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley to benefit her campaign. As part of the event, the band played a semi-acoustic version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” featuring lead singer Julian Casablancas having fun with AutoTune.

Along with the performance, Casablancas hosted a Q&A with Wiley, in which they discussed her plans to revive New York’s economy following the Covid-19 pandemic as well as her stances on racial and social justice.

“I’ve been a fan of Maya’s for a long time,” Casablancas said in a statement prior to the event. “I wanted to reach out to her even before she announced her campaign. When she announced she was running for mayor, I was so excited that someone so smart, solid and caring was running for any office, let alone to lead the city we’re all from and we all love and care so much about. Maya’s lifelong commitment to racial and social justice is so inspiring to all of us and we couldn’t be more excited to be doing this with her this weekend.”

The full event will be available to screen once a week on Wiley’s website, leading up to the election on June 22nd. Ticket packages for the virtual screenings range from $10 to $2000, and the first screening takes place May 18th at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Last month, Casablancas interviewed Noam Chomsky in the latest episode of S.O.S. – Earth Is a Mess, his video series in partnership with Rolling Stone.