{"id":29405,"date":"2026-08-06T04:49:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29405"},"modified":"2026-08-06T04:49:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:49:21","slug":"martha-reeves-critiques-out-of-tune-backup-singers-before-viral-national-anthem-performance-later-blames-tech-issues-and-wet-and-windy-weather-on-rocky-rendition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29405","title":{"rendered":"Martha Reeves Critiques \u2018Out Of Tune\u2019 Backup Singers Before Viral National Anthem Performance, Later Blames Tech Issues And Wet And Windy Weather On Rocky Rendition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:default1=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" itemprop=\"text\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Motown legend <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodunlocked.com\/tag\/martha-reeves\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Martha Reeves<\/a><\/strong>, 85, went viral for her recent National Anthem performance, video of her critiquing her \u201cout of tune\u201d backup singers has now surfaced. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>RELATED<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodunlocked.com\/singer-loomis-issues-an-apology-after-butchering-national-anthem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Singer Loomis Issues An Apology After Butchering National Anthem And Being Compared To Viral Fergie Rendition<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The R&amp;B and Pop singer sang the \u201cStar-Spangled Banner\u201d at the inaugural Women\u2019s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) game in Springfield, Illinois on Saturday (August 1).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event not only made history as WPBL\u2019s first game, but made its rounds online over the Motown icon\u2019s performance with her two female backup singers. Their rendition left several social media users uncontrollably laughing and commenting on the apparent anthem fail. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>RELATED<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodunlocked.com\/woman-arrested-in-dominican-republic-after-singing-national-anthem-to-dembow-beat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Woman Arrested In Dominican Republic After Singing National Anthem To Dembow Beat<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-martha-reeves-caught-on-video-criticizing-backup-singers-before-viral-national-anthem-performance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Martha Reeves Caught On Video Criticizing Backup Singers Before Viral National Anthem Performance<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the incident, video has now surfaced of Reeves critiquing her backup singers before they stood on the field to perform live. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/08\/04\/martha-reeves-national-anthem-rehearsal-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TMZ<\/a> obtained video of Reeves, formerly of <strong>Martha and the Vandellas<\/strong>, practicing the anthem in rehearsal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At one point, Reeves stops her backup singers and scolds, \u201cThat\u2019s out of tune.\u201d She then demanded to know who was singing the same note as her. Then, she blasted the singers over the stadium\u2019s microphone. She said, \u201cI don\u2019t think I need them. I don\u2019t need them.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the rocky rehearsal and final performance, the backup singers claim they actually <em>can<\/em> carry a tune. They shared video of them singing the National Anthem at a hockey game before the WPBL game. They claimed the video shows they have no problem tunefully singing the nation\u2019s anthem. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>RELATED<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodunlocked.com\/president-donald-trump-again-mentions-how-wife-melania-trump-hates-when-he-dances-to-the-gay-national-anthem-y-m-c-a-we-love-t\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">President Donald Trump Again Mentions How Wife Melania Trump \u2018Hates\u2019 When He Dances To \u2018The Gay National Anthem\u2019 \u201cY.M.C.A.\u201d \u2014 \u2018We Love That Song\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Reeves told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/08\/02\/martha-reeves-viral-national-anthem-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TMZ<\/a> that the wet and windy weather on Saturday was to blame for her rocky performance, along with the lack of stage monitors to properly hear herself.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHaving just celebrated my 85th birthday, I\u2019ve learned a great deal over more than 60 years of performing live. It was an incredible honor to be invited to perform at the inaugural Women\u2019s Professional Baseball League event and to help celebrate such a historic moment for women in sports. I wouldn\u2019t have missed it for the world. The field conditions were wet and windy, and without stage monitors I wasn\u2019t able to hear myself as I normally would. While it wasn\u2019t the performance I had hoped for, I\u2019m grateful to have been there in support of these remarkable athletes and this groundbreaking league.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#Socialites, be sure to check out the post below, then leave us your thoughts in a comment after! <\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbpXMzMjs1-\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"\/>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Motown legend Martha Reeves, 85, went viral for her recent National Anthem performance, video of her critiquing her \u201cout of tune\u201d backup singers has now surfaced. RELATED: Singer Loomis Issues An Apology After Butchering National Anthem And Being Compared To Viral Fergie Rendition The R&amp;B and Pop singer sang the \u201cStar-Spangled Banner\u201d at the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/hollywoodunlocked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Martha-Reeves-Critiques-\u2018Out-Of-Tune-Backup-Singers-Before-Viral-National-Anthem-Performance-Later-Blames-Tech-Issues-And-Wet-And-Windy-Weather-On-Rocky-Rendition.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}