The start of Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities arrived on Monday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, where eight of the league’s best hitters were set to compete in the Home Run Derby.
However, before the Derby could begin, they had Ingrid Andress sing the national anthem and, well, it did not go well.
Definitely one of the anthems of all time pic.twitter.com/LvSYSmR1wF
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 16, 2024
(Update: On July 16, Andress shared the following message about her performance on social media: “I’m not gonna bullsh*t y’all, 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. I’ll let y’all know how rehab is I hear it’s super fun. xo, Ingrid.”)
There are bad anthems and then there are anthems that get remembered forever for how bad they are. This, unfortunately for Andress, likely falls into the latter category alongside infamous renditions by Fergie, Carl Lewis, Roseanne Barr, and others who have either butchered or taken significant artistic liberties with the anthem. It’s not abundantly clear what happened here to cause things to go this badly, but people in attendance and watching on TV were completely dumbfounded, with many wondering if this was all some elaborate prank.
did we just get pranked. pic.twitter.com/Dz8WKEAsed
— Absolutely Hammered (@ah_pod) July 16, 2024
Bro I thought we were being punked during that National Anthem… #HRDerby
— Reggie Chatman Jr. (@ReggieChatman) July 16, 2024
this anthem is a cry for help
— Stephen (@b_outliers) July 16, 2024
when she tried to hit that first high note pic.twitter.com/8UpQD8oGMI
— Jordan Zirm (@JordanZirm) July 16, 2024
I really hope there was some kind of a technical malfunction
— Michael Baumann (@MichaelBaumann) July 16, 2024
Folks also immediately compared it to some of those disastrous sports anthems of the past, with the Fergie anthem the most recent example, as Draymond Green cracking during her All-Star rendition being an all-timer. For the Andress anthem, Alex Bohm starred in the Draymond role as he couldn’t hold back a confused smirk while things spiraled downhill.
Alec Bohm 😂 pic.twitter.com/CGFuDVVZc7
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 16, 2024
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) July 16, 2024
https://twitter.com/BrianMFloyd/status/1813003838271455604
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) July 16, 2024
That Anthem was up there with Carl Lewis and Roseanne Barr#HRDerby
— Adam Burns (@BetOnlineBurns) July 16, 2024