R&B icon Martha Reeves shades ‘out of tune’ backup singers in rehearsal video before viral national anthem performance

Joey NolfiWed, August 5, 2026 at 1:37 PM UTC

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Martha Reeves singing the national anthemCredit: Jessie Alcheh/Getty; Jeff Dean/GettyKey Points -

Rehearsal footage posted by TMZ shows Reeves critiquing her background singers before the trio’s viral rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Reeves tells them that they’re “out of tune” and suggests that she doesn’t need them to perform with her.

In a prior statement obtained by Entertainment Weekly, Reeves’ team blamed the performance on “field conditions” that were “wet and windy” and interfered with her ability to hear.

Backup singers? Who needs them when you’re a Motown legend hitting notes rarely heard by the human ear.

In new footage (below) published by TMZ and captured ahead of R&B icon Martha Reeves’ bizarre rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Women’s Professional Baseball League game, the 85-year-old can be heard shading the supporting vocalists who eventually accompanied her on the field for the now-viral performance.

“That’s out of tune,” Reeves, sitting in the stands at the Illinois sports venue during rehearsals, tells the backup singers at one point, as she goes on to hit more notes of her own as the group continues with the song.

“Now, you’re singing with me. Who’s singing the same note I’m singing? Why?” Reeves says at one point in the footage, turning to look at the pair of women accompanying her.

Later, the Martha and the Vandellas performer tells a person standing on the field in front of the trio — who appears to be assisting with the performance — that she might not require assistance.

“Backup singers. I don’t think I need them,” Reeves says, moments before the person grabs her microphone and advises her against speaking her thoughts into it: “You’re talking to the whole stadium,” the person warns.

After the performance was heavily criticized online, specifically for Reeves’ intense vocal trills, Entertainment Weekly obtained a statement from the singer’s team addressing the backlash.

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Reeves’ performance kicked off a weekend game between the Los Angeles Queens and the New York Heights teams, two prominent rosters on the women’s baseball circuit.

The star, who recently released her latest album Searching, said that she’s “learned a great deal over more than 60 years of performing live,” and called it an “incredible honor to be invited” to perform at the Saturday afternoon sporting event.

Reeves added that, while it was “such a historic moment for women in sports,” the “field conditions were wet and windy” and not ideal for a musical performance up to her standards.

Martha Reeves performs ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’Credit: Jessie Alcheh/Getty

“Without stage monitors I wasn’t able to hear myself as I normally would. While it wasn’t the performance I had hoped for, I’m grateful to have been there in support of these remarkable athletes and this groundbreaking league,” the statement finished.

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Reeves’ rendition is far from the only celebrity-sung take on the national anthem that has courted backlash. Other widely derided renditions at sporting events include those by Christina Aguilera, Kat DeLuna, Jesse McCartney, Michael Bolton, and, most notably, Fergie, whose jazzy take on the tune at a 2018 NBA game continues to get the meme treatment to this day.

Watch Reeves critique her backup singers in the footage above.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”