By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-06 01:36:07 | Updated at 2026-08-06 12:03:43
14 hours ago
Footage has emerged of Motown legend Martha Reeves giving her 'out of tune' backup singers a dressing down before their disastrous national anthem at a women's baseball game last week.
The clip, obtained by The Daily Mail, shows Reeves shading her supporting vocalists as they prepared for the performance that would later get destroyed on social media.
'That's out of tune,' 85-year-old Reeves, sitting in the stands, can be heard telling the two women during their rehearsal.
'Now, you're singing with me. Who's singing the same note I'm singing? Why?' Reeves then rudely asks them at one stage.
'Backup singers. I don't think I need them,' Reeves tells a stadium worker who's stood in front of them.
He then grabs her microphone and tells Reeves she's 'talking to the whole stadium' in an awkward moment.
Footage has emerged of Martha Reeves slamming her 'out of tune' backup singers
Reeves told a stadium worker she didn't need backup singers before her awful national anthem
After the cringeworthy scene in the stands, the trio then went to the field for a final rehearsal
Reeves' ear-splitting anthem ensured the inaugural game in Women's Pro Baseball League history got off to an awkward start on Saturday.
Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas fame was given the honors at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, where all of the league's games will be played this season.
But what was being billed as a historic moment quickly turned into a viral joke as the 85-year-old member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame struggled to stay in tune.
'I'm crying actual tears laughing especially when they show the crowd and people are trying not to laugh,' one commenter wrote on X.
'This was a terrible way to kick off the new league,' another added.
Others saw a lighter side to the moment.
'Ummm,' one person wrote, 'I think it was a fantastic start the season. Ya gotta have a memorable first moment.'
'Wowwwww,' another added, 'this national anthem sure is gonna get the #WPBL some clicks.'
Maybe Reeves did know what she was talking about, however, because her backup singers were similarly panned.
Reeves was given the honors at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield but it was a disaster
Reeves was performing at Robin Roberts Stadium, which is named for the Phillies legend
'She and these other two ladies she's singing with are singing in different keys,' one commenter noted. 'They did NAWT rehearse, but God bless them. It's the thought that counts.'
Reeves eventually responded to the criticism in a statement issued on Sunday.
She wrote: 'Having just celebrated my 85th birthday, I've learned a great deal over more than 60 years of performing live.
'It was an incredible honor to be invited to perform at the inaugural Women's Professional Baseball League event and to help celebrate such a historic moment for women in sports. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
'The field conditions were wet and windy, and without stage monitors I wasn't able to hear myself as I normally would.
'While it wasn't the performance I had hoped for, I'm grateful to have been there in support of these remarkable athletes and this groundbreaking league.'
