Ingrid Andress needs no introduction, I'm sure. What may come as a surprise to many who witnessed her rocky performance of the national anthem last year was just how much it affected her.
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Months after her infamous performance of the national anthem, Ingrid Andress has stepped back into the limelight. She recently performed the anthem again at Denver's Ball Center, and has just had an interview with Rolling Stone to discuss the mental ramifications of the backlash she received for her first attempt.
Andress started by explaining how she wasn't in a good space when she had to perform the anthem. She was struggling with drinking, and didn't realize the negative mental state she was in. Andress was used to drinking heavily before performances as she enjoyed the "numbness."
Although she "never let it get in the way of [her] performance," she was in a bad way before the anthem.
She said, "I just remember being like, 'I don't care. I felt so much like an object that it just didn't matter. I had completely missed the plot."
Then she performed the song, and we all know how that went down.
Andress Recalls The Overwhelming Negativity That Followed
Initially, Andress wasn't aware of how negatively the rendition had been received. When she got back to Nashville, still hungover, however, she quickly found out.
She posted to her Instagram a statement admitting to being drunk and within hours was flying over to a treatment facility. Although she was proactive in recognizing and trying to deal with her alcohol issues, one thing that was a struggle to get past was the negativity.
"I felt like America's punching bag," she said. "I became a way to unite America."
The performance was only days after Trump's assassination attempt, so the news was social media was flooded with intense and stressful discourse.
"It was like, 'At least we can all agree that this girl botched the anthem.' I'll be the punching bag for sure, but I didn't commit a crime. It felt very extreme for what the situation was," she reflected.
"I had to stop reading comments because I couldn't handle how deeply it hurt," she said.
Now, however, Andress is ready to step up again. She has a new single coming out and plans to hit the stages again. It's clear she's been emboldened by the harsh experience.
"Fear of failure? I've already been there."
