Celebrities have thoughts on Carrie Underwood’s a capella performance at President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
During the Monday, January 20, ceremony at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C, Underwood sang “America the Beautiful” and was accompanied by the Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club.
After a few notes played, Underwood was met with silence and waited to see if a technical glitch would be fixed. Underwood ultimately asked if she should sing a capella, and told the audience, “If you know the words, help me out here.”
News broke that Underwood would be performing at the event after reporter Matthew Foldi shared a leaked copy of the program for the event via X on January 13.
Ahead of the performance, Underwood addressed her decision to perform at the event. “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event,” Underwood said in a statement. “I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.”
Scroll down to see celebrities’ reactions to her performance:
Ariana Grande
After Underwood sang a capella, a meme circulated of former Vice President Kamala Harris watching the country singer belt out the tune. In the caption of an Instagram post, Evan Ross Katz wrote, “Kamala Harris evoking Coco Montrese (“Girl, find the note”) watching Carrie Underwood at today’s chilling Inauguration.” The upload was apparently liked by Grande.
Mandy Moore
Moore also seemed to throw shade at Underwood, apparently liking the same Instagram post as Grande.
Jason Aldean
Aldean came to Underwood’s defense after the performance. “First of all, it’s a hard song to do anyway, and when you’re supposed to be singing to a track and that’s what gives you pitch reference for the song,” Aldean shared on a January 21 episode of Fox & Friends. “To not have that, for her to just kinda say, ‘All right, listen, we’ll go.’ That’s a big move and that’s a pro move on her part, so I thought it was great.”
