Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale has posted a message to country artist Ingrid Andress following her viral-for-the-wrong-reasons performance of the national anthem.
After Andress’ rendition, which she performed ahead of the MLB Home Run Derby earlier in July, was heavily criticized on social media, she shared that she was drunk during the performance and was checking into a facility to “get the help I need.”
Hale writes in an Instagram post, “I keep thinking about this poor girl and the national anthem gone horribly wrong.”
“Whether she really does not have the ability yet to sing the national anthem, which even for the greatest of singers is a difficult song to pull off, or if she really was drunk … I have so much empathy right now for her because it sounds like she actually just had the wrong people around her, people she probably trusted blindly, but that didn’t have her back,” Hale says.
Hale adds that, during her career, she’s been “incredibly lucky to be surrounded by people who love me and look out for me.”
“We are all flawed, and we all have talents, we all have good days, we all have bad days,” she writes. “We all have times where we chose the wrong thing over the right thing. I hope that Ingrid takes the time to seek out her peace in all this. And I hope that she finds her tribe to surround herself by … people that will be brave enough to fight beside and for her … flying her banner.”
Hale ends by addressing Andress directly, writing, “Don’t let this small moment in time define you.”
“Where some chose to highlight and judge you in a vulnerable moment, there are those who want to help you let your best self shine,” she says.