Billy Ray Cyrus’ performance at the Liberty Ball gala on Monday gave fans and critics much to talk about, having raised concerns about the country singer‘s well-being. He headlined the show, starting with a chaotic rendition of his 2019 version of Lil Nas X‘s ”Old Town Road.“ Things got weird when he seemed to be looking at the projected music video behind him and only facing the audience to faintly sing his part. He also lacked confidence, as his voice was too low to be heard, leaving the audience to follow the background music.
Even when the music video stopped playing, Billy Ray Cyrus tried to redeem his flop by doing an encore of the song, which turned out much worse. Rather than sing, he said the lyrics like he was talking and even walked across the stage handing out his mic to audiences for participation. His voice was notably shaky, indicating that he either had an underlying issue or lost his balance due to the bad start.
What happened to Billy Ray Cyrus’ voice during the inauguration?
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Things got even more chaotic when Billy started to play “Achy Breaky Heart,“ only to realize his electric guitar was not connected to the audio system. In a disorganized manner, he turned backstage to ask for help, asking if they wanted him to keep sinking or were just trying to get rid of him. Thankfully, someone showed up and helped to address the issue while Billy resumed serenading the audience — or so he thought. He tried to make light of the situation with a little pep talk, noting that one has to keep going even when technical difficulties arise. He even referenced President Donald Trump, echoing his infamous “we gotta fight” line.
The 63-year-old ended up doing an acapella, subjecting the audience to a low, slow voice with hardly any melody. He later explained that the equipment was the major reason for his flop; however, he was not going to miss out on honoring Donald Trump’s invite even if his mic, guitar, and monitors never worked. Billy was not the only performer affected by the equipment mishap as Carrie Underwood ended up doing an unplanned solo when her audio cut while singing “America The Beautiful“ a few hours before.
Social media users criticize the singer for taking part in the inauguration
Billy came under fire on social media—,not only for his voice, but for accepting the gig to perform at Donald Trump’s inaugural ball in the first place. The new President is not the favorite of most Hollywood celebrities, so Billy being associated with him symbolizes his support for discriminatory treatment and anti-LGBTQ+ laws. “Billy Ray Cyrus bizarre and technical difficulty-filled performance at Donald Trump’s Inauguration is the perfect representation of how inept and sad the next 4 years will be,“ an X user posted; however, a few others came to Trump’s defense, arguing that nothing about his tenure could be worse than the last four with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Billy’s flop sparked additional insults from his already furious critics, with some accusing him of being under the influence before his performance. “Billy Ray Cyrus appears to have smoked a mountain of crack and knocked back about 15 Busch lights…bizarrely wanders around the stage,” someone wrote, adding that the singer needs to change his name to Billy Ray Zombie. Videos of the bizarre moments went viral almost immediately, with trolls piling on Billy and other celebrities present for hours. “I think the best part was when he was trying to get the crowd into and he got nothing back. Something tells me that the crowd doesn’t have a lick of musical talent to understand that he was trying to get the crowd into it lol,” a third fan added. Carrie received some praise for handling her mishap well, as a few compared both artists.