Country singer Robbie Mortimer has two albums to his name, but he wasn’t exactly a household name among footy fans until he performed Advance Australia Fair at this year’s first State of Origin match on Monday night.
Unfortunately for Mortimer, he’s now known to NRL supporters for what one called ‘pound-for-pound the worst rendition I’ve ever heard’ – with hundreds of commenters online blasting his take on the song as soon as he’d finished.
‘Is it me, or was that rendition of the National Anthem at the #Origin a shocker?’ wrote journalist and author Peter FitzSimons.
‘It was a shocker musically speaking, but on the other hand, it was about as Aussie as you could possibly get, and continued a proud tradition of terrible Origin anthem renditions,’ a footy fan wrote on X.
‘That national anthem was butchered like nothing I’ve ever heard before,’ added another.
‘It was just disgraceful. Took the shine off the game. Literally sounded like an orange having a cold if that was a thing lol,’ another commenter said.
Successful country singer Robbie Mortimer is pictured singing the national anthem at the first State of Origin match on Wednesday night
Mortimer was blasted by fans in hundreds of posts online after his rendition of Advance Australia Fair
The musician has strong ties to footy. His uncle Steve Mortimer skippered NSW to their first Origin series win in 1985 (pictured) and his father Peter is a Bulldogs legend
Many fans said Mortimer’s accent didn’t sound Aussie as he used a country and western twang during his performance.
‘It sounded like an American trying to sing the Australian anthem in an Aussie accent,’ one said.
Mortimer’s ties to footy extend far beyond his gig at Accor Stadium.
His father and uncle are Bulldogs legends Peter and Steve Mortimer respectively, with Steve skippering the Blues to their first series win in 1985, and Peter also playing for NSW in 1979.
Mortimer – who had his first guitar lesson aged nine – made the grand final of the Toyota Star Maker competition in 2023, beating out other rising country artists in the process.
He’d already released two albums by then.
The Fall of March dropped in 2019, followed by 200 Years Too Late in 2021, with the latter making it into the top 10 of the iTunes chart in Australia.
He had breakout singles with Blow The Speakers and You Got That Love, which reached the No.1 spot on the CountryTown top 50.
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Pictured: A sample of the reaction to Wednesday night’s performance
Mortimer’s cousin Erin performed Advance Australia Fair during last year’s Origin series
Mortimer has opened for superstar acts like The Beach Boys and The Temptations, and he was nominated for breakthrough artist at last year’s CountryTown Awards.
According to the bio on his website, he grew up with four older brothers on a farm in the NSW country town of Orange and blends ‘traditional country roots with modern rock elements’.
Last year he racked up more than 4.4 million streams along with eight million views on Instagram, where he has more than 55,000 followers, including Souths star and former NSW Blues player Jack Wighton.
Mortimer has played right across the country at events like the Dubbo Stock Route Festival, Heart of the Hunter Festival and Tamworth Carnival of Cups, in addition to being the feature artist for the Professional Bullriders’ Association.
Before his Origin performance he posted to Instagram to voice his excitement at the opportunity.
‘What an honour. My two worlds colliding. I’m honoured to be performing the Australian national anthem tonight at the State of Origin in front of over 82,000 people and millions at home!’ he wrote.
‘Extremely proud to be carrying on the Mortimer legacy, started by my dad and uncles on the rugby league paddock, not to mention my amazing cousin @erinmortimermusic who performed the anthem last year.’
