Billy Ray Cyrus performed at the inauguration events for Donald Trump yesterday (January 20), but things went far from smoothly. Check out footage and fan reactions below.
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The 63-year-old country star took to the stage in Washington, DC last night as one of the musical acts lined-up for the presidential inauguration. Performing as part of the Liberty Ball, his set didn’t go quite to plan and ended up facing a handful of issues.
Firstly, the set took place later than expected, as a delay in the President’s schedule pushed his set further back into the night. When Cyrus did take to the stage, however, things didn’t get much better as technical issues took over large portions of the show and the singer began discussing the blips even as his microphone and stage lights were cut off.
The set began with a rendition of the Lil Nas X hit ‘Old Town Road’ – the 2018 hit that Cyrus featured on. According to Daily Beast, not only was there no sign of Lil Nas X during the set, but the lighting meant Cyrus was barely lit, and the music video that played behind him made his vocals nearly inaudible.
Shortly afterwards, Cyrus started addressing the crew while on-stage, saying that he couldn’t hear his guitar. He would also speak to the crowd, asking if they had all fallen asleep and stating that he was willing to end the set early if they weren’t interested in seeing it.
Here’s the full video of Billy Ray Cyrus “performing” at the Liberty Ball this evening. pic.twitter.com/sSkhjZDTtL
— Pepe – save the children (@girl_roadrunner) January 21, 2025
Billy Ray Cyrus’ performance at Trump’s inauguration is the perfect metaphor for the next 4 years pic.twitter.com/JYVCpD75y1
— Dave Ryder (@daveryder) January 21, 2025
“Is my guitar still on? I think they cut me off. I don’t hear my guitar anymore,” he began. “Is anyone awake?”
“I don’t hear it? Do ya’ll hear it?” he continued. “Is anyone back there? Can somebody turn my guitar back on? We’re going to sing a bit more.”
“Y’all want me to sing more or you just want me to get the hell of the stage? I don’t give a damn.”
When a crew member eventually fixed the audio for his guitar, Cyrus continued the set before making a quip at the malfunctions. “When you have technical difficulties you got to just keep going,” he said. “Or as President Trump would say, you got to fight!”
It wasn’t just the country star who ended up getting frustrated during the set, as viewers quickly took to social media to complain about the technical difficulties, Cyrus’ gruff-sounding voice and even his appearance.
“Billy Ray Cyrus’ performance at Donald Trump’s inaugural Liberty Ball is an epic disaster,” one viewer wrote on X, while another described it as “possibly the cringiest few minutes in entertainment history”.
Oh my god!
Billy Ray Cyrus’ performance at Donald Trump’s inaugural Liberty Ball is an epic disaster.
“Is anyone awake?”
— Art Candee (@ArtCandee) January 21, 2025
Fuck me running Billy Ray Cyrus appears to have smoked a mountain of crack and knocked back about 15 Busch lights and made possibly the cringiest few minutes in entertainment history pic.twitter.com/WuJdydenQ0
— 𒆜𝕄ℝBRY𝕋ES𝕚𝔻𝕖𒆜 (@MisterBryteSide) January 21, 2025
“Who signed off on Billy Ray Cyrus performing tonight? They should be fired immediately. This is awful,” another wrote on X/Twitter.
“I don’t mean to be rude, he’s probably going through something. But dang that was a hard watch.”
I don’t mean to be rude, he’s probably going through something. But dang that was a hard watch.
— Zach Franek (@Skitzofranek) January 21, 2025
Just when you think this day is over, Billy Ray Cyrus happens… pic.twitter.com/BggTXFuKIf
— Nancy Sidley (@nancytsidley) January 21, 2025
Others, meanwhile, made quips about his look for the show, with many comparing him to Rob Zombie or Pirates Of The Caribbean‘s Captain Jack Sparrow. Find more responses below.
Billy Ray Cyrus coming out for the ball…. pic.twitter.com/EQ1ytOfpre
— col_catsup (@col_catsup24) January 21, 2025
If Billy Ray Cyrus comes up on your feed…. Look away pic.twitter.com/qDRUVCdEhG
— Georgia gal (@RedRedWineDawg) January 21, 2025
Can Trump pardon Billy Ray Cyrus for this performance tonight? Wow.
— Carter Garza (@cgrockstar74) January 21, 2025
Billy Ray Cyrus, clearly lip-syncing, looks like he crawled out from under a bridge before this weak performance at Donald Trump’s inaugural Liberty Ball.
So embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/wTtPNW4kaX
— Art Candee (@ArtCandee) January 21, 2025
Billy Ray Cyrus running from the Liberty Ball security
#Inauguration2025 #LibertyBall #BillyRayCyrus pic.twitter.com/gze6pyjG43
— maddie (@FelloMaddie) January 21, 2025
So embarrassed for Billy Ray Cyrus right now.. pic.twitter.com/LcenNgAlES
— ORCHID VEGA (@orchid_vega) January 21, 2025
Also performing at the Donald Trump inauguration events was Snoop Dogg and Soulja Boy, who performed at the Crypto Ball, and Nelly, who responded to backlash, calling it “an honour” to perform at the ceremony.
Kid Rock was also on the bill, and recently denied that the secret service prevented him from having strippers at the set, as was Village People, who performed their hit ‘Y.M.C.A.’ with Trump in the day today.
Carrie Underwood was the musical guest performer for the main ceremony and sang ‘America the Beautiful’ on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, although also faced technical issues.
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