The internet is still buzzing about country music artist Ingrid Andress’ performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 2024 Home Run Derby on July 15. And in case you haven’t seen it, it’s not good.
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“My ears are bleeding. One of the worst national anthem renditions ever,” wrote one user on X.
Another user gave Andress a pretty stern warning, writing, “Ingrid Andress you are never allowed to sing the national anthem again.”
Although you may have never heard of Andress before today, the singer/songwriter has made quite a name for herself on the country music scene, with two Billboard Hot 100 tracks, four GRAMMY nominations and over 329,000 followers on Instagram.
But it’s hard to deny that she did not do her thing, struggling to hit the high notes and leaving MLB fans at home begging her to make it stop.
The next day, Andress blamed her sour notes on alcohol. In a July 16 post on X, the singer apologized to the MLB and fans saying she was drunk during the performance and is checking herself into rehab to get help.
Some people compared Andress’ cringeworthy performance to Fergie’s performance at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, like this user on X, who wrote:
“Fergie seeing Ingrid Andress dethrone her for worst National Anthem performance #mlbhomerunderby #homerunderby”
And it got others who are old enough to remember thinking about track star Carl Lewis’ epic fail at a 1993 NBA game between the Chicago Bulls and then-New Jersey Nets.
In Andress’ defense, it’s not easy to pull off a great rendition of our national anthem…unless of course you are,
Luther Vandross at the 1997 Super Bowl:
Beyoncé at the 2004 Super Bowl:
or, of course, Whitney Houston at the 1991 Super Bowl:
The next time someone asks Ingrid Andress to perform the national anthem (and they probably won’t), she should remember these words loosely paraphrased from George Bernard Shaw, “Those who can, do, those who can’t do, listen to Whitney Houston.”
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