Who Is Ingrid Andress? All About the Singer Who Went Viral After 'Drunk' National Anthem Performance

Country singer Ingrid Andress admitted she was drunk after she was met with criticism for her performance of the National Anthem at the 2024 Home Run Derby

Ingrid Andress has had a successful career as a country singer with four Grammy Award nominations in her back pocket.

The “Wishful Drinking” singer first started gaining fame in 2019 after she collaborated with Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman on “Five Decades, One Voice.” Since then, she released her debut album, Lady Like, in 2020 and Good Person in 2022, and opened a nationwide tour for country duo Dan + Shay in 2021.

In July 2024, Andress came under public scrutiny when she performed the National Anthem at the 2024 Home Run Derby, causing a stir on social media due to her shaky vocals. The following day, Andress admitted she was drunk during the performance and was admitting herself into rehab.

"I'm not gonna bulls— y'all, I was drunk last night. I'm checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night," Andress wrote in a statement on Instagram.

So who is Ingrid Andress? Here’s everything to know about the country singer after her performance of the National Anthem at the 2024 Home Run Derby.

She got her start in Nashville, collaborating with stars like Little Big Town

After graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Andress moved to Nashville at the suggestion of her mentor and former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. She ended up signing two publishing deals, including one with DioGuardi’s company.

She started as a songwriter, writing hits like Vice’s “Steady 1234” and Charli XCX’s “Boys,” before she began fulfilling her dream of performing country songs of her own. In July 2019, Little Big Town’s Fairchild and Schlapman picked her to collaborate with them on Cracker Barrel’s 50th anniversary initiative celebrating young women in country music.

“Well, I practiced ‘not fangirling’ in the mirror,” Andress told PEOPLE that same month of how she prepared to perform with the singers, then “I rehearsed the crap out of every song we were doing.”

From there, Andress’ career began to take off at a speed she didn’t expect, she told PEOPLE.

“When you first get signed as a new artist, the label kind of preps you, telling you it’s a slow start, but once things get moving it’ll be great,” she said. “And it’s been nothing but fast pace since I got signed.”

She was homeschooled in Colorado

Andress grew up in a household with three sisters and a brother in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and was homeschooled for most of her life, she said in the trailer for her Apple Music’s Up Next short film in March 2020.

“I think because I felt so out of place, coming from being homeschooled, it made me overthink and overanalyze everything. When I started writing songs, I was definitely overwhelmed at first,” she said in the trailer.

“I felt like I didn’t fit in,” Andress continued. “You have to put in so much work to, kind of, neglect how you feel. I think I started writing better songs when I finally was just like, I’m going to write what I feel and what I want.”

Her father, Brad Andress, was a coach for the Colorado Rockies

Andress grew up around baseball as her father was a major league coach for 19 years. He specialized as a strength and conditioning coach, starting his career at the Detroit Tigers from 1990 to 1999 and continuing with the Colorado Rockies between 2000 and 2008.

Brad’s cross-country trips for work taught Andress what life on the road could look like, she told WBWN’s station B104 in February 2020.

“It taught me early on that I’m okay wherever I go because I’ll always be able to figure out like what to do and how to adapt,” she said. “It really gets you out of your comfort zone and makes you okay with things that you wouldn’t normally do.”

She released her debut album, Lady Like, in 2020

Following a few singles, including one of the same name, Andress released her debut album, Lady Like, in March 2020. Shortly after, she told PEOPLE she couldn’t categorize her music — though it fit into the country genre, she said she didn’t want to put it in a box.

“I really can’t find artists that my music sounds like. I always just tell people, ‘You just have to hear it to understand it,’ which obviously was not a great selling point when I first started because everybody was like, ‘Okay, well, I can’t put you in a box,’ ” she said.

The album only featured eight songs, which Andress said was intentional so they could each stand alone as their own single.

“I really just picked the ones that had an emotional story to tell. I obviously write about real things that actually happened to me," she said. "At least two I wrote years ago, and some I wrote super-recently, so it’s a cool combination of who I am as a person emotionally.”

Andress has been nominated for four Grammy Awards

Andress was nominated for three awards at the 2021 Grammys, including best new artist, best country song for “More Hearts Than Mine” and best country album. She told PEOPLE ahead of the award show that she was shocked and honored to be nominated, especially alongside people she’s a fan of like Megan Thee Stallion and Miranda Lambert.

"I was just going about my normal daily routine of doing nothing, watering my plants," she said of how she found out. "That made my year even weirder. '2020 was my year,' said nobody ever except for me. I'm like, 'OK I've peaked! I retire.’ "

Andress added that she was excited about being in the same category as Megan Thee Stallion for best new artist, despite creating entirely different types of music. However, she added she was surprised that she was the only country artist in the category.

"I feel like for as big as country is, they don't really ever get represented in the new artist category," she said. "I'm just lucky to be able to represent Nashville and everything that we do over here."

Andress was nominated for another Grammy in 2023 for her single, “Wishful Drinking.”

She checked herself into rehab after a 2024 Home Run Derby National Anthem performance

In July 2024, Andress performed at the 2024 Home Run Derby where she sang the National Anthem. Her performance quickly sparked commentary on social media as viewers compared it to Fergie’sfamous rendition of the song at the 2018 NBA All-Star game.

"Fergie watching Ingrid Andress claim her crown for worst national anthem of all time," one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Andress addressed her critics the next day, writing a statement on Instagram that she was drunk during the performance and was seeking help.

"I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition,” she wrote. “I'll let y'all know how rehab is I hear it's super fun. xo, Ingrid."

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