In high school Tyra Madison estimates she sang "Let It Go" dressed as Elsa from the movie "Frozen" at 500 birthday parties. Now she's set to sing the national anthem at Saturday's UK game.
She might have grown up singing “Rocky Top” in Knott County but never doubt whether country singer Tyra Madison is a Kentucky fan or not.
“I grew up a die-hard Kentucky fan in eastern Kentucky. I have bled blue since birth,” said Madison. “I grew up singing Bluegrass music and ‘Rocky Top’ was a song that was always playing and I did sing it. But if I hear it now, I turn that off. It’s all blue for me.”
The rising country music singer from Pine Top — about 30 minutes from Hazard — will get a Big Blue dream Saturday afternoon when she sings the national anthem before UK hosts South Carolina on ABC-TV.
She says UK “kind of reached out to me” about singing the anthem but suspects that her father “may have helped out” since he’s very involved with UK sports.
“I just remember him saying, ‘You are singing the national anthem,’” and I was so excited. I enjoy the national anthem. I love being an American and love singing the song for America,” Madison, a 2015 Knott County High School graduate, said. “I grew up singing the national anthem. It’s a song I could sing in my sleep. Being from such a small town there were not many opportunities to sing, so that was me at the ball games singing the anthem any chance I got.”
She doesn’t think she’ll be overly nervous Saturday even though it will be the biggest audience she’s ever had when she performs.
“We go to Cats games all the time. I just know I was really young the first time I went to see the Cats,” she said. “I love football season and it is special to me. Every year I tailgate with my family and go to games. I have a lot of family and friends coming to the game.
“The dream is for me to sing the national anthem and then the Cats winning would just be the icing on the cake. I watched the last game (against Southern Mississippi) and always keep up with the Cats. I think this game is really going to be fun.”
A week from Saturday on Sept. 14 she will be back in eastern Kentucky at Appalachian Wireless Arena in Pikeville to open for Nelly.
“I play a lot around Nashville but the next two Saturdays are going to be really cool,” Madison, a Belmont University graduate as a commercial voice major, said. “If I am not performing, I am probably writing music but these next two Saturdays are going to be special.”
Her most popular single, “Right Girl Wrong Time,” was released in 2020. Her music has been on playlists such as Spotify’s “New Music Nashville” and Apple Music’s “Country Risers.” She has toured with Nelly, Clint Black, Ernest, Lonestar, Maddie & Tae, and Priscilla Block.
In 2023, she released a series of singles — “Plead The 5th” and “Hurts a Little Less” — that further showcased her storytelling prowess before releasing “California King,” “Think Like a Man” and “Hey Heart.”
Country music star Carrie Underwood has been a major influence on her but recently Lainey Wilson’s success has had a huge impact on her.
“I really respect her grind. They call Nashville the 10-year town and she was here 12 years before she really reached the spotlight. She has been working very hard in this town and I really respect that about her,” Madison said.
Madison understands the grind. She was a Hannah Montana impersonator before becoming an Elsa impersonator in high school.
“Being from such a small town I took any opportunity to sing. In high school the movie ‘Frozen’ was so popular that I would go to birthday parties and other things as Elsa. I probably performed ‘Let It Go’ at over 500 birthday parties. It was a good job for a while and people paid pretty well to have a princess at the party,” she said.
One Response
Tyra was the only thing that looked good on Kroger Field today…besides South Carolina.