Singer Loomis apologized and begged for forgiveness after she botched “The Star-Spangled Banner” during a Presidential Debate last week.
The incident happened during a live C-SPAN broadcast of the Free & Equal Presidential Debate on Wednesday. The independent singer started out singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” with great confidence, but then her voice began to crack.
“I f***ed it up, I f***ed it up. Can I go back please?” the aspiring singer asked. But organizers told her the event was live. So she continued.
“The bombs bursting in air — I got too nervous,” she said before finishing the National Anthem. She received polite applause from the third-party nominees and the camera crew.
"I F—ed it up. I F—ed it up. Can I go back. Can go back, please."
"You can't. We're live"
— National Anthem pic.twitter.com/HR3ikojfGc
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) October 26, 2024
On Sunday, Loomis apologized for her unprofessional performance.
“First off, I would like to apologize to the Free and Equal political team for this mishap, and from the bottom of my heart I wanted to apologize,” she said in an Instagram video.
“And I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to mess up the National Anthem, and I wanted to thank you guys for giving me a chance and believing in me.”
Loomis added that she suffered from stage fright for years.
“I was always scared I was going to fail, and then I did, and the world’s seen it,” she said. “So I just wanted anybody out there who’s seen, that you can change anything negative into something positive.”
Social media users compared Loomis to Olympic break dancer Rachael Gunn who went viral for making a mockery of the artform.
“I really do sing and I am really a good singer. So what had happened was I didn’t know it was live,” Loomis told TMZ.
But some observers accused her of botching the anthem on purpose in the hopes of going viral and boosting her career.
Who is Loomis?
Loomis is an independent singer with over 31,000 followers on Instagram. She released her first single, “Cereal,” in 2021, followed by a second single “I Want the World” in 2022. She has yet to sign a record deal with a major label.
“Good Morning America” reached out to Loomis to give her another chance to redeem herself.
