After a widely panned national anthem performance, the Motown legend deflected fault onto her backing vocalists, then sang it again solo — with similar results.
Martha Reeves’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League last weekend drew swift, unsparing reaction online. On Fox 2 Detroit, the Motown veteran addressed the fallout not with a mea culpa, but by pointing elsewhere.
During an interview with Charlie Langton, Reeves dismissed the idea of a redo. “I don’t have to redo anything. I didn’t do that. Those girls were singing, didn’t you know that?” she said. When asked if the backup singers were off-key, she replied, “They were trying to make some money,” and added, “I didn’t have a chance to rehearse with them.” Shortly after the segment, TMZ surfaced rehearsal footage, and the singer’s stance shifted slightly: she called herself “proud” and “happy,” clarified that she “didn’t take the mic and hit that girl,” then launched into an impromptu solo version.
The do-over, broadcast shortly after, delivered no audible correction
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