Imelda May's decision to miss her scheduled headline performance at the Down On The Close festival in Rugby, Warwickshire at the weekend to instead travel to Las Vegas and sing the national athem before Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor, has been viewed as a great call by many.
Her rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann was absolutely beautiful, and went viral the morning after the fight as most agreed her performance was oustanding, but there were some upset by her apparent snubbing of the festival she was due to perform at.
SEE ALSO: Watch: Spine-Tingling Rendition Of Amhrán na bhFiann By Imelda May
Her Facbook page saw a bit of a backlash as disgruntled fans expressed their disappointment, while others argued her case by claiming it was an unmissable opportunity, now the signer herself has had her say.
In a statement on her Facebook page, Imelda May explained her reasons and outlined how she came to the decision with the blessings of the festival organisers.
Nevada desert morning. I feel I to address a few things. (Brace yourselves it's a long winded one!) I want to apologise to disappointed fans at Rugbys Down On The Close Festival for letting you down. I get it. Myself and my management have been working closely with the promoter to fix this situation. I hear most people were fine and that the festival was a huge success and everyone had a great time that went. I hear Cara Dillon was amazing. I've had a long, lovely conversation with Lee Martin who runs the Down on the Close - A Festival in a Night and he has been so understanding. I did not make the decision to cancel, lightly. I did not do it for money by the way. I did not do it for fame. I am fully aware my performance will be probably forgotten in 2seconds. . I simply felt duty called... I was asked to represent my country at the biggest sporting event in our small islands history. I was very honoured and so proud to sing our national anthem to the world. I sincerely thank Conor McGregor for asking me to be a part of his unbelievable evening. He won our hearts last night. I thank all of you for your support as I was nervous as hell until I started singing and then felt all your good vibes with me. I felt my family with me. I especially thank the good wishes from Lee and all those at the festival. I will make it up to you. Imelda X
Fair play to her.
What is crazy is that the people criticising her decision were some of her own fans... Would they not be delighted to see her get to perform on such a huge stage?
Granted, it would have been a disappointment to miss her show, but she will perform again many times, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so from the outside looking in it seemed like a no-brainer.
And once again, Imelda absolutely smashed it.
