Billy Ray Cyrus released a statement following his viral performance at the Liberty Ball celebrating President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday night. 

Cyrus’ performance left many viewers confused and concerned about his state of mind. Technical difficulties seemed to plague the set, as his vocals were barely audible during the opening song, “Old Town Road.” At one point, he appeared to gesture toward the back of the room, likely trying to get the attention of the sound engineers.

Although his vocals were slightly more audible later, they were still overshadowed by the backing track.

When the track was over, Cyrus asked, “You wanna do a little more of it?” The audience issued a nearly inaudible cheer and he went on to whistle the melody. Then he paced back and forth and the audience joined him in singing parts of the chorus. 

“Check? Is anybody awake?” Cyrus asked. “Y’all want me to sing more or you want me to just get the hell off the stage?” he later joked. 

Admitting, “they told me to kill as much time as possible,” Cyrus then performed his seminal hit, “Achy Breaky Heart.” After struggling with getting his guitar to be heard. 

“Is anyone back there? Can somebody turn by guitar back on,” he asked. 

Cyrus later appeared to kill some time by bantering on stage as a guitar tech joined him to try to fix the issue.   

“After what Carrie Underwood did today…wasn’t Carrie Underwood fabulous? Carrie Underwood, you were amazing today,” he said. “They had technical difficulties today too and in life when you have technical difficulties, you just gotta keep going. Or as President Trump would say, ‘You gotta fight!”

After determining that his guitar wasn’t going to turn on, Cyrus opted to have the crowd snap their fingers as he delivered an a capella rendition of the 1991 hit. 

Viewers slammed the performance on social media, with some calling it an “epic disaster” and another user declaring it to be “possibly the cringiest few minutes in entertainment history.”

On Tuesday, Cyrus issued a statement to fans, explaining that he chose to continue with his performance despite the technical difficulties. 

“I wouldn’t have missed the honor of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not. I was there because President Donald J. Trump invited me,” he wrote on Instagram. “I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night and I’ve learned through all these years when the producer says ‘you’re on,’ you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell. I was there for the people and we had a blast. That’s called rock n roll!!!” 

The Liberty Ball also featured performances from Jason Aldean, Nelly, the Village People, and more. 

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