Tens of thousands donned their best dresses, suits, and hats and gathered at Churchill Downs for the 152nd Kentucky Derby. Cherie DeVaux made history as the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner after her horse Golden Tempo took home the coveted first-place prize. But the longest continuously running sport in the United States left a sour taste even before the event began. The Tedeschi Trucks Band performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at Churchill Downs, but fans on social media were left unimpressed.

The Derby has strong ties to Southern roots, aligned with its Kentucky heritage. So, this year the honor went to Florida-based blues and rock group, Tedeschi Trucks Band. The group won a Grammy in 2012 for Best Blues Album. In fact, their past performance of the national anthem at two Jacksonville Jaguars playoff games, in both 2023 and 2026, received a lot of praise. But this time, the performance faced immediate scrutiny on social media regarding its technical execution.

During the live broadcast, some viewers reported balance issues where the guitar occasionally overshadowed the vocals. Additionally, the tempo of the performance—slower than a standard military cadence—became a point of contention. And it’s not that the husband-wife duo of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have a lack of accolades.

Trucks is a 46-year-old guitarist and songwriter from Jacksonville, Florida, who used to be a member of The Allman Brothers Band, a southern rock group honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Grammys. Similarly, Tedeschi is a Boston native and during her solo career, her album “Just Won’t Burn” went platinum in 1998, allowing her to tour with the likes of Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and B.B. King. She even received multiple Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist in 2000. But the live performance gig has those days when the resume and the accolades don’t cover up for a bad day.

It happened to be at the 152nd Kentucky Derby, and the passionate fans were quick with their criticism.

Fans were critical of the performance

“Good gosh. That’s the best you could find to sing!! No passion. Sad.” One vocal fan tweeted. Last year, Grammy-nominated singer Grace Potter serenaded everyone with her performance. It was praised for its balance of rock and reverence; the 2026 rendition by Tedeschi and Trucks left more to be desired. That’s why more comments came in criticizing the duo.

“The Kentucky Derby National Anthem performance SUCKED!!” and there was another similar comment, “Gonna be honest. The national anthem sucked.” Their performance was also compared to yesterday’s Nicole Scherzinger’s. She returned to her hometown of Louisville to sing the National Anthem at Churchill Downs on the eve of the Kentucky Derby. Her performance set the bar so high that the husband-wife duo of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi unfortunately failed.

“The Tedeschi Trucks Band just performed the National Anthem at the Kentucky Derby. Why? What a train wreck!”, was another comment. But the criticism did not just resoort just to Trucks and Tedeschi. One netizen’s comment highlighted cultural differences and questioned the recent over-the-top theatrics of other attendees. “The Derby used to be a class act; now it is a tacky costume show.”

Over time, style took center stage as men wore suits to the race and women added accessories to their outfits. Today, outfits seem to become more colorful and sometimes outlandish. Garey Faulkner of Cincinnati reportedly created a massive 25-pound headpiece for this year’s race. An attendee at the Kentucky Oaks wore a fascinator in the shape of oversized lips. In all the “fastest two minutes in sports,” delivered on the racing front.