Carly Pearce Performs National Anthem At 2023 Kentucky Derby

WAVE / Facebook

Kentucky Native Carly Pearce Chosen To Sing Anthem At Kentucky Derby

Grammy-winning country artist Carly Pearce shared a video on Instagram that shows her unboxing a fancy hat. Her caption read, “mmm what could this mean?? Place your bets below for what it could be…#KentuckyDerby #KD149 #KyDerby.”

Of course, people immediately guessed that Pearce was singing the National Anthem at the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

 

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Their guesses were right on the money. Pearce confirmed the news a few days later.

As a Kentucky native, Pearce was incredibly honored to be chosen to sing the Anthem at the Derby. She shared her excitement in a post on social media:

“Being from Kentucky, this is a major bucket list moment for me!” Pearce said. “I’m so excited to announce I will be performing the National Anthem at the 149th @kentuckyderby. Tune in to NBC on May 6 to catch my performance ahead of the Run for the Roses®”

 

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Carly Pearce Delivers Stunning Anthem Performance Prior To The Race

The 2023 Kentucky Derby was held on Saturday, May 6. Pearce helped kick things off by performing the National Anthem before the race.

Pearce wore a blue floral dressing with a matching blue hat. She took to the microphone to perform in front of a bunch of the Derby’s signature red roses.

Louisville-based news station WAVE shared a video of Pearce’s performance on Facebook.

The station’s followers left lots of praise for Pearce in the comments, with some people saying:

“A very real performance of our national anthem. Thank you for singing the way it was written and not embellishing it with notes that were never meant to be included in the song.”

“Loved it!! No show boating, just National Anthem! Thank you Carly!”

“Absolutely amazing Carly!! You did Kentucky PROUD!”

“Everybody stopped and listened to her sing. Very patriotic and respectful…Made me proud.”

“Sang perfectly as it’s suppose to be done just like that.”

“A very, very good performance.”

Head below to watch another video of Pearce’s National Anthem performance at the 2023 Kentucky Derby. She did an outstanding job!

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