DIY VIRAL
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Ariana Grande vs. Carrie Underwood wasn't on our 2025 bingo card, but we'll take it!
Infamously, the country singer agreed to sing at Trump's inauguration.
While it wasn't the worst thing that happened on Monday, it also didn't go as planned. Underwood ended up singing a cappella.
And it seems one of the biggest voices on the planet is calling him out for doing an unimpressive job.
When Carrie Underwood sang “America The Beautiful,” she sang a cappella
In a moment that seemed like brutal symbolism for Donald Trump's resumption of power, the music of America the beautiful didn't play.
Carrie Underwood sang the song using only her own voice (and a microphone), improvising the performance a cappella when it was clear that the equipment would not be a magic bullet.
Many political figures attended the inauguration, including (now former) Vice President Kamala Harris. And some on social media thought (or simply projected their own opinions) that she didn't find Underwood's interpretation impressive.
“Kamala Harris talking about Coco Montrese (“Girl, Find the Note”) watching Carrie Underwood at today's spooky inauguration,” Instagram user @evanrosskatz captioned a post.
Coco Montrese is an extremely well-known drag artist, and the quote on the note comes from RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 2. The wicked message roasts Carrie Underwood's singing.
Social media users were quick to notice that Ariana Grande gave the post a like. (We are here at THG I'd like to note that Ariana has since unliked it after it gained attention, although her brother's like remains active)
Did Ariana Grande indirectly insult Carrie Underwood?
The message itself was not a shadow, but a direct read — that is to say an insult addressed to Carrie Underwood.
However, to like a message falls into a gray area (sometimes). It's even possible to accidentally double-click an Instagram photo. Additionally, some people use likes on social media as a bookmarking feature – only to come back to it later.
Most of the time, of course, a “like” is close enough to an endorsement that celebrities know their likes can become a scandal. Is this what happened here?
Comment after comment on an article that didn't mention Ariana at all read things like “Ariana liked this.”
Many of them included laughs or praise for Grande. Others simply peppered Carrie Underwood with insults.
However, other commentators have drawn on the “regardless of politics” card to compliment Underwood's a cappella performance. America the beautiful.
Some praised her voice, while others acknowledged that she gave a good effort in less than ideal circumstances.
Did she really do a terrible job?
Music is subjective. The singers too. There are people who think that Ariana Grande doesn't have a wonderful singing voice. (They're wrong, of course, but that's not the point)
The point is, it's not really about whether Carrie Underwood did a “good job” or even what Ariana Grande thinks of her singing. It probably has more to do with people expressing disgust at her and the other artists who agreed to perform for Trump's inauguration.
That's not to say that this is an unfair criticism of Underwood's performance. Not to mention that morality this arguably matters much more than vocal range or staying true to tonality. But it’s clear that this conversation has never been solely about a country singer’s voice.
DIY VIRAL
