Last week (Monday July 15), country star Ingrid Andress went viral for a messy and angst-inducing performing of US national anthem The Star Spangled Banner at this year's edition of the MLS's annual home run batting competition, the Home Run Derby.
Andress, a four-time Grammy nominee from Michigan, looked dishevelled and fatigued as she performed an uncharacteristically out of tune rendition of the song ahead of the event, leading to immediate widespread mockery and criticism online. The singer/songwriter later stated that she had been under the influence of alcohol while singing and was checking herself into rehab.
“I’m not gonna bulls–t y’all,” Andress said on X/Twitter following the performance. “I was drunk last night. I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night.
“I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition,” she added. “I’ll let y’all know how rehab is I hear it’s super fun.”
Now, none other than Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale has weighed in on the incident, throwing her support behind Andress and suggesting she may not have had the necessary support around her leading up to the performance.
"I keep thinking about this poor girl and the national anthem gone horribly wrong," Hale states on Instagram. "Whether she really does not have the ability yet to sing the national anthem, which even for the greatest of singers is a difficult song to pull off, or if she really was drunk …
"I have so much empathy right now for her because it sounds like she actually just had the wrong people around her, people she probably trusted blindly, but that didn’t have her back.
"As a singer, performer, songwriter, artist, musician, a woman in this business, and as a human…I am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by people who love me and look out for me, people who aren’t afraid to have the hard talks, do the hard things, have the disagreements , people who have loved me through my darkest times and were willing to bear some of the weight and pain with me when I couldn’t carry all of it by myself.
"We are all flawed, and we all have talents, we all have good days, we all have bad days. We all have times where we chose the wrong thing over the right thing. I hope that Ingrid takes the time to seek out her peace in all this, And I hope that she finds her tribe to surround herself by…people that will be brave enough to fight beside and for her…flying her banner.
"And to Ingrid, Don’t let this small moment in time define you. Where some chose to highlight and judge you in a vulnerable moment, there are those who want to help you let your best self shine."
See Lzzy's words below.
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