All it took was a little “global humiliation” for this country star to want to get sober.
Country star Ingrid Andress opened up about her viral incident at last year’s MLB home run derby, during which she drunkenly sang the U.S. national anthem prior to the event – with millions watching worldwide.
The four-time Grammy nominee spoke about her “worst moment” this week for the first time since leaving rehab during an appearance on The Viall Files podcast.
“It only took, you know, global humiliation for me to be like ‘this is a problem,’” Andress said.
Andress admitted to walking out on the field that day “not caring” about how her performance was going to go and later thinking that she “nailed it.”
“I was so gone that afterward, I thought that I like, kind of nailed it,” the 33-year-old shared.
That most certainly was not the case.
Fans at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Tex., and online were left bewildered by Andress’ pitchy and slurry rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner, with the performance going viral.
When the Wishful Drinking hitmaker woke up the next day, she realized there was a serious problem.
“I was like ‘OK, this is so unlike me, like, this is not OK,” she recalled.
The Colorado native said leading up to the performance, she had been drinking heavily for more than three months due to a series of events.
“I didn’t realize how much I didn’t let myself process those emotions of grief,” Andress said.
Among the big changes in her life, Andress said that her sister moved out of her house, she split with her first manager and broke up with her “very serious boyfriend” all at once.
Andress also revealed that the statement that she released after the anthem ordeal was without approval from her team.
“I’m not gonna bulls*** y’all, I was drunk last night. I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need,” Andress posted on Instagram, also apologizing to MLB and her fans.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9fdt_0uBwB/?hl=en
“I’ll let y’all know how rehab is, I hear it’s super fun.”
Andress said that she was in a rehab facility just hours later, without her phone, and spent six months “off the grid” recentering herself in Colorado.
“I’m fine with being America’s punching bag,” she said, looking back on the debacle.
“You got to see me in my worst moment,” Andress said. “So now, hopefully everything from here will be great.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGpHO0BspFW/?hl=en
Now, Andress is trying to step back into the spotlight, having released a new single and singing the national anthem at a Colorado Avalanche game on Feb. 28 – without incident.