Billy Ray Cyrus raises eyebrows with performance at post-inauguration Liberty Ball

Achy, breaky, broke-down?

Billy Ray Cyrus rang in President Trump's inauguration Monday with a performance that left fans both confused and disappointed.

One of several headliners at the Liberty Ball − a gala following the swearing-in− Cyrus treated audiences to his 2019 remix of "Old Town Road," the boot-stomping, new-Americana hit from Lil Nas X.

In a bizarre choice, Cyrus seemed to be mostly watching the music video playing behind him on large projectors, turning only to mutter his parts of the song into the mic at a decibel too low to distinguish from the recording.

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After the video wrapped, Cyrus went for an encore of the same song, delivering the lyrics in a shaky-spoken word tone rather than the booming vocals offered in the original and walking across the stage to hand out the mic for audience participation.

Moving into the song that made him famous, Cyrus then attempted to play "Achy Breaky Heart," but discovered his electric guitar was not hooked up to the audio system.

"Check? Is anybody awake?" Cyrus asked, turning to the back of the stage for help. "Y'all want me to sink more or you want me to just get the hell off the stage?" he joked.

A helper then came from backstage to reconfigure the setup while Cyrus entertained the audience.

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"In life, when you have technical difficulties, you just gotta keep going," he told the crowd, "or as President Trump would say, 'You gotta fight.'"

With no fix in sight, the singer opted to go a capella, using the same low and slow voice to speak-sing the song.

Viewers online were quick to slam the performance, with one X user calling it an "epic disaster" and another slamming it as "possibly the cringiest few minutes in entertainment history."

The tech portion of the mishap was not new to the Inauguration, though, as just a few hours before Carrie Underwood was unexpectedly forced to sing acapella when her audio cut out during "America the Beautiful."

Underwood, Cyrus, and a bevy of other celebrities came under fire when it was announced they would perform for President Trump, a figure largely shunned by Hollywood since his pivot into politics.

Critics of the newly sworn-in president have expressed outrage that performers would feel comfortable cosigning some of his most xenophobic or anti-LGBTQ positions, while others have defended artists like The Village People and Nelly for opting to put politics aside.

Billy Ray Cyrus says equipment went 'to hell' during inauguration performance

In a statement issued to People magazine on Tuesday, Cyrus said he was honored to play at the inauguration event and referenced the technical problems he had during his performance.

"I wouldn't have missed the honor of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not," he told People. "I was there because President Donald J. Trump invited me."

"I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night and I've learned through all these years when the producer says, 'You're on,' you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell. I was there for the people and we had a blast. That's called rock n roll!!!"

This story has been updated to add new information.

Contributing: Brendan Morrow

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Billy Ray Cyrus Liberty Ball performance rides quickly off the rails