By Molly Goddard
9:36am PST, Jan 21, 2025
After singing the chart-topping track, Cyrus asked the backstage crew, "Is my guitar still on?"
"I think they cut me off. I don't hear my guitar anymore," he said in a frustrated panic in front of
partygoers. "Is anyone awake? I don't hear it. Do y'all hear it? Is anyone back there? Can somebody turn my guitar back on? We're going to sing a bit more."
The famous father then asked the
audience, "Y'all want me to sing more, or you just want me to get the h— off the stage? I don't give a d—."
Once a staffer came over to help Cyrus, his attitude appeared more positive and he continued his performance. "When you have technical difficulties, you got to just keep going," he emphasized. "Or as President Trump would say, 'You got to fight!'"
People on social media did not hold back after a clip of the
awkward moment went viral. "Billy Ray Cyrus' performance at Donald Trump's inaugural Liberty Ball is an epic disaster," one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"That Billy Ray Cyrus 'performance' at the Liberty Ball was absolutely pathetic. Worst s— I've seen in a while," a second chimed in.
"It seems that Billy Ray Cyrus had a LOT more than just TECHNICAL ISSUES going on at the Liberty Ball just now!" someone suspected.
Others questioned if he was really singing live. "Why does Billy Ray Cyrus look so out of it? It doesn't even look like him. You can totally tell he's lip-syncing. This is horrible," another added.
"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," someone else noted.
Cyrus first pledged his support for Trump ahead of the November 2024 election on social media. "I stand here with former U.S. President Donald J. Trump as a proud AMERICAN," he captioned a photo shared to Instagram of himself and the right-wing leader.
"Mr.
Trump is the 6th U.S. President I've met and I felt like Mr.
Corey Comperatore was right there with us," the Disney Channel star continued before recalling lyrics of one of his patriotic songs "Some Gave All" and referencing the man who lost his life at the Pennsylvania rally where
The Apprentice star was nearly assassinated in July 2024.
"Some stood through for the red, white and blue," Cyrus wrote. "And some had to fall. Some Gave All."
