Country music star Carrie Underwood faced a wave of online criticism following her performance at the John Deere Classic golf tournament on July 4th. While performing her 2005 hit "Before He Cheats" at the PGA Tour event in Illinois, viewers on social media expressed dissatisfaction with her rendition, with some describing it as "horrible."
Commentary surrounding the performance quickly veered into political territory. Left-leaning social media users suggested that the criticism was a consequence of Underwood having sung "America the Beautiful" at former President Donald Trump's second inauguration in 2017. Remarks such as "That's what going MAGA will do to ya!" and "This song doesn't hit the same ever since she sold her soul to the Cheater in Chief" circulated online.
Other social media users speculated about crowd size, with some falsely claiming she performed for only "dozens" of people. Tournament officials, however, estimated the audience to be around 12,000, according to the Quad-City Times.
The criticism of Underwood's performance at the John Deere Classic followed a recent career highlight. The previous weekend, she performed at the farewell concert for country music legend Alan Jackson in Nashville. Jackson, 67, played his final show on June 27 amidst a 15-year battle with the genetic disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. A number of prominent country artists, including Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, and Lainey Wilson, participated in Jackson's send-off. Underwood shared a personal connection to the event, posting a childhood photo of herself in front of an Alan Jackson poster and reflecting on attending his concert in 1994. She also performed a rendition of Jackson's song "Everything I Love" at the farewell show. Jackson's final concert was briefly interrupted by a lightning storm, leading to a weather delay before fans could return to their seats.