Last year, country musician Ingrid Andress appeared at the 2024 Home Run Derby and delivered one of the all-time worst performances of the National Anthem in television history. Seven months later, the country singer got a chance to redeem herself at a Colorado Avalanche hockey game on Friday night.
This time, instead of making athletes and fans laugh with pitchy moments and drunkenly-embellished vocal runs, Andress delivered an exceedingly normal rendition of the song, holding all the notes for an appropriate length, letting her vibrato ring on the high notes, and even having the audience join her for a brief, patriotic sing-along.
The redemptive moment occurred at an Avalanche hockey game in Andress’ native state, and was captured in a video the singer posted to social media, with the caption “We’re back baby.” Watch the new performance below.
After her blunder with the anthem last year, Andress stepped away from the limelight for a bit, reporting that she was “drunk” during the performance and that she checked herself into rehab the next day. At the time, she had been promoting a then-upcoming single, “Colorado 9,” but to date, the song still hasn’t been released.
For now, though, Andress can hopefully rest a little easier knowing that she’s proven her ability to sing Francis Scott Key’s words with the appropriate pageantry. As Fergie can surely attest, it’s hard to shake a bad anthem performance — but maybe Andress’ successful do-over and Fergie’s recent appearance in a new music video are signs that there really is hope for life after bombing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
