Carrie Underwood

Fans React To Carrie Underwood’s Performance At Donald Trump’s Inauguration

Published Jan 20, 2025 By Tiffany Aaron

AP/YouTube (screenshot)

Carrie Underwood had the honor of singing “America The Beautiful” just after Donald Trump’s first public address as the 47th President of the United States on Monday (January 20).

Carrie Underwood stood on a podium erected in the Capitol Rotunda and sang a powerful rendition of the patriotic classic to a room full of elected officials, tech CEOs, foreign dignitaries, and families of President Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Carrie looked stunning in a silver gown complimented by silver jewelry. Technical difficulties delayed the performance slightly as the accompaniment track failed to play properly. Underwood chose to sing the song a cappella and asked the crowd to help her. The result was a stripped down, flawless rendition of “America The Beautiful.”

Carrie Underwood‘s involvement in Donald Trump’s inauguration was met with backlash prior to her performance.

It was announced last week that Carrie Underwood would be performing at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony. The news was met with intense reaction from both political sides due to Underwood refraining from publicly taking a political stance throughout her career.

Carrie was criticized by the left for her seeming endorsement of President Trump. One of her most vocal critics was The View co-host Joy Behar who slammed the singer, saying, “How do you love your country and support and normalize someone who was a convicted felon who really wants to destroy the country, in my opinion? I don’t understand how you say you love our country at the same time as you normalize this convicted felon.”

But many came to Underwood’s defense, including country star John Rich who said that the “Jesus Take The Wheel” singer was making other closet conservatives look like “sissy boys.”


Rich followed the post with a video making a more intense plea for “big name” country artists to “step to the plate.”

“I just don’t understand it, to be honest with you … What are you guys afraid of? Your record label? You’re too big to cancel, guys. They cannot cancel you. If anything, if you step forward and speak your mind about what you truly believe and stand for, your crowd is gonna get bigger,” Rich said.

“Listen, if you’re a big country artist and you follow me – come on. Come on. It ain’t outlaw to sit around and keep your mouth shut. You can’t claim to love Johnny Cash and Kristofferson and Willie and Waylon and Tanya and Loretta and on and on and say that you’re following in their footsteps when you keep your mouth shut.”

Carrie Underwood received overwhelming praise for her performance after it aired.

Despite the backlash surrounding her appearance, Carrie Underwood followed through with her commitment and delivered what fans considered to be one of the most beautiful renditions of “America The Beautiful” ever, despite technical difficulties.

Fans took to social media to share their reactions to the performance. Many said that Underwood’s performance was made more memorable and beautiful than it would have been with accompaniment.