Everything all right Billy Ray?
The festivities are continuing tonight in Washington DC after the inauguration of President Donald Trump earlier in the day.
The swearing-in ceremony featured some technical issues during a performance of “America the Beautiful” by Carrie Underwood, but the American Idol alum and now judge on the TV show kept her composure and delivered a flawless acapella performance (that former President Bill Clinton especially seemed to appreciate).
And tonight, Trump is attending a number of inaugural balls, which are being headlined by artists like Parker McCollum, Jason Aldean and Rascal Flatts.
Billy Ray Cyrus just performed at the Liberty Ball – and the nicest thing I can say about his performance is that it was a total trainwreck.
The “Achy Breaky Heart” singer was clearly lip synching, not even standing behind the mic as “Old Town Road” played throughout the ballroom. And when he WAS actually singing, like during an acapella performance of “Achy Breaky Heart,”…well, his vocals sounded ROUGH.
Billy Ray was clearly having some technical difficulties with his equipment, whether it was accidental or whether they cut the power to the stage to try to get him to leave. At one point he had a guitar tech come out to help fix the issue, to no avail.
And during his next song, “Some Gave All,” the singer put the mic on the stand and just walked around the stage waving in the dark before somebody eventually came and took the microphone as he walked off stage, so I’m not sure if he was cut off and escorted off stage or what the deal was, but it was awkward as hell.
None of the musical equipment worked for Billy Ray Cyrus, so he improvised.
Same things happened to Carrie Underwood.
Somebody’s getting fired. lol pic.twitter.com/8582bgdZBt
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) January 21, 2025
And the internet was…well, confused:
Billy Ray Cyrus gives up entirely at performing at the Liberty Inaugural Ball for Donald Trump and bizarrely wanders around the stage.
How embarrassing for him. pic.twitter.com/niPzHTeut8
— 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
Can Trump pardon Billy Ray Cyrus for this performance tonight? Wow.
— Carter Garza (@cgrockstar74) January 21, 2025
What kind of drugs is Billy Ray Cyrus on?
— TheRamblinred (@TheRamblinred) January 21, 2025
Who signed off on Billy Ray Cyrus performing tonight? They should be fired immediately. This is awful.
— Zach Franek (@Skitzofranek) January 21, 2025
POV : You just heard the Billy Ray Cyrus performance. pic.twitter.com/e0LMVfzfir
— Honkamoto17 🇺🇸⚡️ (@Honkamoto1775) January 21, 2025
What is Billy Ray Cyrus doing?
Seriously wtf? pic.twitter.com/ohuDzGcBmK
— JJ (@JustJJSC) January 21, 2025
I think Biden is dressed as Billy ray cyrus performing
— Andy (@JA82000) January 21, 2025
🚨 BREAKING: Billy Ray Cyrus can’t find his way off the stage after a terrifying “performance”. Wtf just happened ?!#TrumpInauguration2025 https://t.co/s8km4rDQJe pic.twitter.com/qO8h4DTq6y
— mitrajoon (@mitrajoon246071) January 21, 2025
Yo how drunk is Billy Ray Cyrus😂 I just watched them try to pull him off stage for 5 mins😂💀 they even killed the lights on him. Thank you Fox for filming that entire scene. Had me crying
— Gavo (@gavmburns) January 21, 2025
Billy Ray Cyrus gives up entirely at performing at the Liberty Inaugural Ball for Donald Trump and bizarrely wanders around the stage.
How embarrassing for him. pic.twitter.com/niPzHTeut8
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) January 21, 2025
Someone explain to me what is happening with Billy Ray Cyrus. Did they do him dirty with the sound, or did they cut his guitar bc he’s coked up? Him rambling around in the dark while they were playing other music made me VERY uncomfortable.
— Dagney (@msgreenjeans) January 21, 2025
Yeah, not a great look, whatever happened.
Of course yesterday, the internet erupted after Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn posted a photo with Billy Ray that shocked everybody for his resemblance to Rob Zombie…
I thought that was Rob Zombie. Billy Ray lookin ROUGH.
— Kumon Engitsum (@Kumon_Engitsum) January 19, 2025
Billy Ray has been going through a lot lately, after his high-profile divorce from Australian singer Firerose last year.
The divorce ended up getting pretty nasty, with both Billy Ray and Firerose accusing the other of abuse. Leaked audio showed the country singer cursing at his wife and calling her a “selfish fucking bitch,” and Firerose accused Billy Ray of filing for divorce the day before she was scheduled to undergo a preventative double mastectomy.
Billy Ray addressed the audio claiming he was at his “wit’s end,” blasting Firerose as a “fraud” who was trying to use the Cyrus name for her own gain. And he also alleged that Firerose went on a nearly $100,000 spending spree after he filed for divorce. (Although apparently $50,000 was a mistake because her law firm accidentally charged her $50,000 when they meant to charge $5,000).
The messy divorce was finalized back in August, with Billy Ray calling the marriage a “scam.”
“This has been absolutely the most crazy insane scam I have ever heard of. Let alone the fact I’m right in the center and basically the target of the scheme.
It’s unfortunate it played out this way. Not only was it a web of lies that put me in physical danger, it was a matter of the heart. Love is blind, that’s for sure.”
After that performance, apparently love was deaf too.
You can watch the whole trainwreck here: