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20 Jan 2026 7:35
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Maren Morris had "the worst sinus infection" days before her New Year's Eve performance

    The 35-year-old pop-country star's face "swelled up" and had to fight off the serious health ordeal prior to entertaining the crowd in Times Square, New York, with her hits, such as The Bone, The Middle, and 80s Mercedes, during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December 31.


    Maren uploaded a photo of her heavy, patchy and red face to her Instagram Stories and penned alongside it: "Sorry jumpscare but days leading up to my performance, I had the worst sinus infection of my life and it swelled up my face and then proceeded to evolve into some insane skin reaction. (sic)"

    The singer avoided her set from being thrown into chaos by using medication, healing ointment and makeup to treat her face.

    Maren said: "So, I'm relieved I was able to sing last night. Thank you antibiotics, afrin and aquaphor. Oh and concealer. (sic)"

    The Grammy award-winning artist followed up the shot of her face with an image of two boxes of Afrin and a nasal decongestant spray.

    Maren then dec lared to her fans that she was "stopping today [for] all those concerned!"

    The chart-topping performer powered through her performance.

    And on New Year's Day (01.01.26), Maren took to Instagram and reflected on the event, and said how thrilled she was to have met singing legend Diana Ross, 81, as well as ring in 2026 with the huge crowd in Times Square.

    Maren posted a series of images from the night, including some behind-the-scenes photos of the finishing touches being made to Maren's dazzling silver minidress, which she complemented with matching gloves and a furry white coat.

    She captioned the photo carousel with: "Performed in Times Square last night for NYE right as it started to snow, met the queen Diana Ross, had Janet help me button my bodysuit (that's a real manager) and got super emo when confetti fell over thousands of hopeful, happy people in one of my favourite cities. happy 2026, world. (sic)"

    Maren was married to 39-year-old country singer Ryan Hurd, but they broke up in October 2023 after five years of marriage, with their divorce finalised in January 2024.

    The former couple agreed to share custody of their five-year-old son, Hayes.

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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