The 2024 Home Run Derby is taking place Monday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and like every other sporting event in the country, it was preceded by the national anthem. The singer: Four-time Grammy nominee and country singer Ingrid Andress. Good get for MLB, right? Right.
With all due respect to Ms. Andress, who is wonderfully talented and surely a delightful country singer, her rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was not good. I’m sorry, but it wasn’t. We’re all thinking it and it has to be said. Here’s the video:
Yeah, not great. Nothing unites the masses quiet like a butchered national anthem, and of course the internet had jokes. A sampling:
Andress, 32, broke through with her single “More Hearts Than Mine” in 2019 and her studio albums “Lady Like” and “Good Person.” She’s opened on tours including Keith Urban’s 2022 “The Speed of Now World Tour” and headlined some of her own. Her father, Brad Andress, was a strength and conditioning coach with the Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, New York Mets, and University of Michigan.
I sincerely wish Ms. Andress all the success in the world. Hopefully Monday’s National Anthem exposes millions to her music.
