Reacting to the massive backlash over her national anthem performance, Motown legend Martha Reeves said wet and windy conditions, as well as the absence of stage monitors, left her unable to hear herself properly during the Women’s Pro Baseball League’s inaugural game on Saturday, 1 August.
‘It wasn’t the performance I had hoped for,’ the 85-year-old acknowledged. Reeves did not directly attack the league, but her explanation placed part of the responsibility on the event’s technical setup. She nevertheless described the invitation as an ‘incredible honour’ and said she remained grateful to support the athletes and the new competition.
Reeves was joined by two accompanying singers before the Los Angeles Queens faced the New York Heights at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. The trio struggled to stay in the same key and tempo, while Reeves’s heavy vocal trills repeatedly pulled the performance apart.
The surprise quickly became visible around the stadium. Television cameras captured spectators smiling and players covering their mouths or contorting their faces as they tried not to laugh.
The backlash and mockery online were even more intense. Sports journalist Kendall Baker shared the clip with the caption ‘Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the national anthem at the first Women’s Pro Baseball League tonight’—a post that has garnered more than 17 million views since.
Another widely shared response described the performance as a ‘strained, off-key mess’ and added: ‘The Star-Spangled Banner isn’t a karaoke free-for-all.’ Another user joked: ‘I admire her ability to pick a key and just ignore it.’ Reeves’s awkward performance almost immediately drew comparisons with Fergie’s notorious 2018 NBA All-Star Game rendition, which was similarly ridiculed at the time.
The WPBL had not yet commented on the performance or addressed the controversy.
Besides the overwhelmingly negative reactions, some moved to defend Reeves’s career, arguing that circulating the footage simply to humiliate her was cruel. Other defenders said the organizers should have honoured her legacy without placing an elderly performer in a situation where technical problems and diminished vocals could become viral entertainment.
The controversy overshadowed the return of professional women’s baseball to the US after almost three decades. The newly established four-team WPBL, unrelated to the short-lived Ladies Professional Baseball League that folded in 1998, features clubs representing New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. All games in its inaugural season are being played in Springfield, Illinois, with coverage through ESPN and Scripps Sports Network. Los Angeles defeated New York 10–8 in the opening game before a sellout crowd of more than 4,000.
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