Billy Ray Cyrus would not have missed the “honour” of playing at Donald Trump’s inauguration even if his equipment had totally failed.
The country star, 63, performed at the Liberty Ball on Monday (20.01.25) as part of Trump’s swearing-in festivities as he took power once again at the White House.
But after quietly performing his vocal portion of his and Lil Nas X’s 2019 hit ‘Old Town Road’, Billy went on to repeat his lyrics from the song in a monotone voice – and asked the audience to sing with him as he wandered around the stage with no backing track.
Billy then appeared to be beset with technical issues with his guitar and microphone as he set out to play his breakout 1992 hit ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ – and while trying to perform the song a cappella, he removed his microphone from its stand and walked around the stage snapping his fingers, speaking the lyrics rather than singing them.
He asked fans: “Check? Is anybody awake?” – before asking: “Y’all want me to sing more or you want me to just get the hell off the stage?”
Billy also joked: “In life, when you have technical difficulties, you just gotta keep going, or as President Trump would say, ‘You gotta fight.’”
He has now told People about the shambolic performance: “I wouldn’t have missed the honour of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not.
“I was there because President Donald J Trump invited me.
“I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night and I’ve learned through all these years when the producer says, ‘You’re on,’ you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell.
“I was there for the people and we had a blast.
“That’s called rock n roll!!!”
Fans slammed Billy’s performance, with one fan on X branding it an “epic disaster”.
Another X user blasted: “Billy Ray Cyrus’ performance is cringe-worthy. Legitimately Concerning.”
