Billy Ray Cyrus was "cut off" and was hit by a string of technical issues during his performance at the Liberty Ball on Monday (20.01.25)
The 63-year-old singer took to the stage at the event, which celebrated the inauguration of President Donald Trump, without a band, instead playing guitar along to a video of his and Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' and sang with an apparently hoarse voice
24 January 2025
After the video ended, he strummed more of the song and attempted an a capella version of the track, urging the audience to join in.
He said: "If you encourage me I'll keep going. They told me to kill as much time as possible."
But then his guitar cut out and he shouted: "Is my guitar still on? I think they cut me off.
"Is my guitar on guys? I don't hear my guitar anymore. Is anybody awake? Where's everybody at? Is anyone back there? Can somebody turn my guitar back on?"
Speaking to tech support, who were off stage, he added: "I don't hear it? Do ya'll hear it? Is anyone back there?
"Can somebody turn my guitar back on? We're going to sing a bit more."
But the instrument still didn't work, so Billy asked the crowd if the wanted another song as he "didn't give a damn" either way.
He said: "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."
A crew member eventually came out and fixed the sound before Billy went on to note Carrie Underwood had also experienced technical difficulties at the inauguration ceremony earlier in the day, forcing her to sing 'America the Beautiful' a capaella when the backing track cut out.
He said: "Wasn't Carrie Underwood fabulous? They had technical difficulties too. And in life, when you have technical difficulties, you just gotta keep going. Or as President Trump would say, 'You gotta fight!'"
The country star then began singing his 1992 hit 'Achy Breaky Heart' a capella but appeared to have outstayed his welcome as he ended up holding the microphone to his mouth with no sound, wandering in the dark with the stage lights going off around him.
Despite the difficulties, Billy said he was "honoured" to be part of the inauguration celebrations.
He posted on Facebook: "Honored to kick off the Liberty Ball at the request of our 47th President and Commander-in-Chief @realdonaldtrump. When you get knocked down, you get back up. You fight and persevere."
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