Indie artist Loomis claimed she didn’t know the moment her explicit-laden mistake during the national anthem would be broadcast live.
Loomis, the daughter of a veteran, was invited to sing the national anthem at the Free & Equal Elections Presidential Debate, which was held between three independent candidates on Wednesday.
As she went for a high note on the lyric ‘and the rocket’s red glare’ in the first verse during a now-viral moment, her voice betrayed her and broke horrifically, causing the singer to exclaim: ‘I f**ked it up, I f**ked it up, can I go, can I go back, please?’
After being told the debate was ‘live,’ she immediately went back to the anthem before interjecting seconds later: ‘I got too nervous’ before finishing strong.
‘I really do sing, I’m a good singer,’ she defended herself to TMZ on Friday, saying she only had the day before to practice.
Loomis also explained that she started her performance too early at the debate and the producer yelled at her that they weren’t ready yet, so she got the impression that they would be able to re-tape the performance if necessary.
As Loomis went for a high note on the lyric ‘and the rocket’s red glare’ in the first verse during a now-viral moment, her voice betrayed her and broke horrifically, causing the singer to exclaim: ‘I f**ked it up, I f**ked it up, can I go, can I go back, please?’
After being told the debate was ‘live,’ she immediately went back to the anthem before interjecting seconds later: ‘I got too nervous’ before finishing strong
‘Since I was a little girl, I’ve always said I don’t want to sing the national anthem, it’s like the scariest thing to me ever,’ she told the tabloid. ‘I am the daughter of a veteran. So dad, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to mess up the national anthem.’
She said then got ‘nervous’ and ‘scared’ and it got the best of her.
‘Everyone’s standing up all serious,’ she said. ‘Everyone’s all quiet. It’s scary,’ the singer, who averages 120 monthly listeners, explained.
‘It’s so serious, it’s not like your own show when you get to be yourself or express yourself. It’s like you’re putting on for the whole nation.’
Despite the mistake, Loomis said she still ‘really sang it good.’
She also revealed Good Morning America has asked her to do the national anthem again and she agreed. She also said she will have time to practice before her next performance.
Loomis, the daughter of a veteran, was invited to sing the national anthem at the Free & Equal Elections Presidential Debate, which was held between three independent candidates on Wednesday
Loomis also explained that she started her performance too early at the debate and the producer yelled at her that they weren’t ready yet, so she got the impression that they would be able to re-tape the performance if necessary
The singer also launched into an impromptu performance of the parts she messed up to show her fans and haters she could hit the notes and reminded people ‘imperfections are something the parts that people feel the most connected too.’
‘I want to let every singer know sometimes you can fail you can hit the wrong note, you could do whatever, but you’re still a baddie,’ she concluded.
Loomis isn’t the first singer to mess up the Star-Spangled Banner, as Fergie famously did so in 2018 during an NBA All-Star Game, as the players were caught trying to stifle their laughter.
To this day, Fergie’s performance is still widely considered the worst performance of all time.
