Carrie Underwood sings ‘America the Beautiful’ a cappella after major snafu at Trump inauguration

Ariana Grande has ‘liked’ a shady post about Carrie Underwood’s tech impaired a cappella performance at President Trump inauguration ceremony.

Wicked star Ariana Grande has cast some shade at a fellow singer, as she “liked” an Instagram post that made fun of country star Carrie Underwood for her performance at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

The post, shared by internet personality Evan Ross Katz, featured a picture of Underwood, 41, singing “America the Beautiful” a cappella because of audio technical difficulties inside the Capitol rotunda in Washington, DC.

The image showed Kamala Harris — whom Grande, 31, endorsed in the election against Mr Trump, 78, last year — standing behind Underwood with a less-than-impressed expression of her face during the performance.

“Kamala Harris evoking Coco Montrese (‘Girl, find the note’) watching Carrie Underwood at today’s chilling Inauguration,” Katz wrote in his caption, referencing a quote from RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Internet users quickly noticed that Grande was among the thousands of people who double-tapped on Katz’s post.

“She’s not afraid to throw some shade when it feels deserved,” one fan wrote on X, alongside a screenshot of Grande’s “like” on the post.

However, others defended Underwood’s performance given the circumstances of the technical blunder.“I thought she did a good job, though. There was no music and she didn’t know what was going on. I could have never sung like that!” a fan tweeted.

US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance listen as Carrie Underwood performs America the Beautiful a capella style. Picture: AFP

It comes as Underwood experienced a major glitch at US President Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration ceremony.

Underwood, 41, was poised to sing ‘America the Beautiful’ at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, after Mr Trump, 78, was sworn in as the 47th president.

But as she stood there and the seconds ticked by, waiting for the backing soundtrack to start up, nothing happened and she had to perform a cappella because of a technical difficulty with the audio.

“I’ll just sing it,” said the embattled American Idol winner. “If you know the words, help me out here,” Underwood said to the assembled VIPs before she belted out just a few verses of the patriotic anthem.

Luckily, most of the guests joined in, as did the Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club.

Country music artist Carrie Underwood performs during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

For the occasion, Underwood wore a sleeveless oyster grey draped dress and diamond earrings, and was positioned directly in front of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Underwood was one of multiple musicians tapped to perform at the political event but received backlash for her choice to sing for the President-elect.

“I love our country and am honoured to have been asked to sing at the inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event. 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,” she said in a statement.

Everyone joined in singing after Carrie Underwood asked the crowd to “help me out.” Picture: AFP

The news sparked mixed reactions, including from the co-hosts on daytime talk show The View.

Joy Behar questioned how Underwood could possibly love America while agreeing to perform at Mr Trump’s inauguration.

But Underwood, who grew up in Oklahoma, has never publicly supported or disavowed Mr Trump since he ran for president in 2016.

Afterwards, Underwood shook hands with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Fans took to Twitter to declare “she killed it” and “absolutely crushes it” as she reached for the big notes of the song.

“I did not expect a tech issue to become one of my favourite parts of this inauguration,” posted another. “Carrie Underwood handled the situation with such grace. And it was beautiful to hear the voices of Americans back her up.”

Mr Biden could be seen to mouth “great job” as Underwood shook his hand at the end of her song.