Inaugural Official Confirms Beyonce Did Not Sing Anthem Live

By On 01/24/2013 · 113 Comments · In American Idol

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While the Beyonce camp remains silent, there have been conflicting reports about whether the superstar singer lip synched the National Anthem at Monday’s presidential inauguration.  now, an inauguration official confirms to CNN that Beyonce did, indeed lip sync:

“She did not sing live,” the official told CNN. A pre-recording of the artist’s rendition of the National Anthem was played instead. What was heard by spectators and viewers was the sound of that recording, according to the official.

“Because she didn’t have time to rehearse with the Marine Band, she decided to use her recording with the Marine Band,” the official added. “It was all Beyoncé.”

She recorded her part separately from the band and her rendition was married with the band’s music, the official said.

I don’t have a problem with Beyonce lip synching. There is a long standing precedent set by singers such as Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson and more of lip singing the anthem at big important events. But what bugs me, is Beyonce’s people’s attempt to pass off a performance as live when it was not. Beyonce could have cleared things up by making a statement. But she chose to keep the issue murky by staying silent.

The problem is the praise heaped on the singer by critics for a so-called live performance that actually was not live. It sets an unrealistic standard for those such as Beyonce’s fellow inaugural singers, James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson who took the risk and braved the cold to sing live, with a live band.

Beyonce’s people have not responded to the controversy, and I doubt that they will. It’s too bad. I’d respect the singer if she’d just step in and clear up the confusion.

Via CNN

 
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  • http://twitter.com/KariannHart Kariann Hart

    Taylor, I am so sorry I didn’t say this right.  Not singing live will put doubts on every performance she does.  If I am paying $100 for a ticket, then please let me hear the true, “right there” emotion.  Everyone watching her performance at the Super Bowl will be questioning each song.  Did she or didn’t she?  For her sake, I hope some of her singing will be live!

    When Cher performed, “Believe” she sung with her prerecorded version.  There are so many sound effects, echoes, and such that the song couldn’t be exactly like the record.  However, Cher can sing a great song; she proved it by singing WITH the taped version.

    I have not heard this yet about Beyonce.  I am so sorry, but not clarifying this is what makes this a big deal.  Be honest.  One tweet would have precented so much fuss.

  • lovetheusa1776

    Guess she had to make the calculation whether it was better to have a fuss for a few days over lip synching (which can probably be lessened with her next good live performance) or have in perpetuity (like Xtina) dozens (maybe hundreds) of YTs with any mistake.  Along with the embarrassment of flubbing at such an august occasion.

    Like I’ve always said – want a live performance?  Hire an Idol.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/PVEFG2TOUIXSROKUSO2O2DOWWE Taylor

    This is what the “source” or the “insider” told US Weekly yesterday:

    Although the Grammy winner and her
    team have remained silent about the “Star Spangled Banner” fracas, a
    source confirms to US Weekly that she did, in fact, use a backing track for her performance in front of the
    U.S. Capitol. “She didn’t think there was anything wrong with it,”
    the source explains. “Pavarotti has done it! It was freezing out, and if
    she messed up just one note, that would have been the story.”

    “Everybody uses these tracks, and the music director advised it. Any big outdoor live performance is almost always with some kind of track.
    “She did sing, but used a track.”

    Still, the insider clarifies that Beyonce didn’t completely lip-sync the song: “She did sing, but used a track.”

    Did US Weekly come out and say that the “source” was a rep or Beyonce herself or is OMG Insider running with the US Weekly story that was from a super secret “insider” and adding a little flair to it?

    If this “insider” or “source” is to be believed, they are stating that Beyonce did sing, just along with a backing track.

  • http://twitter.com/Loxodonta_Stylz Rico Suricata

    After the proof was in your face? Seriously? 

    No, sadly, “that” isn’t “that.” The video evidence that the anthem was sang along with the prerecorded track is there if you ever decide you want to take a bite of the truth.

    (Those were rhetorical questions, by the way.)

  • remulack

     She may have sung along to her recorded track but nobody heard anything but the recorded track. She sang into a dead microphone. That’s is what lip-synching. Most often noise comes out of the persons mouth if they want it to look right, it’s just that we don’t hear that noise because the mic is off and the recorded track is on.

  • remulack

     She may have sung along to her recorded track but nobody heard anything but the recorded track. She sang into a dead microphone. That’s is what lip-synching. Most often noise comes out of the persons mouth if they want it to look right, it’s just that we don’t hear that noise because the mic is off and the recorded track is on.

  • http://twitter.com/Loxodonta_Stylz Rico Suricata

    Thanks! It’s tough going against popular opinion in order to get factual information out there to those who would otherwise appreciate to stay within the limits of the status-quo.

    And it’s even harder to admit when we’ve made mistake by jumping to conclusions too soon, based solely off of hearsay.

    But neither, obviously, is harder than trying to maintain one’s journalistic integrity.

    Anywho, let me go to sleep now, before I start to run off at the mouth. I am rather disappointed in what I’ve seen today, as today is my first time commenting. (I’ve been a lurker for a while now.)

    I’ve really enjoyed this site and MJ’s recaps. But it was really unnecessary for the blogger to call me “lamb” as an insult to my character. Rude. All I wanted to do was clear up confusion by posting a vid of Beyonce singing along with the track, taken from the Wall Street Journal’s live feed.

    I am still debating whether or not to be through with this site.

    Because “Ain’t nobody got time fah dat!” LOL!

  • http://www.facebook.com/beaugard.stevens Beaugard Stevens

    Even pre-recorded, it didn’t come close to Whitney, though I noticed the arrangement was like it, especially at the “brave” at the end.  I’m sure Aretha Franklin is pissed because she sang “live” four years ago and was heavily criticized for her performance, it wasn’t her best day, and then Beyonce comes on and lip-syncs.

    Hasn’t Beyonce been adding her name to her songs’ writing credits for years?  Why would anyone think she would admit to anything?

  • woodchuck25

    Not really sure why people are still debating this. It’s crystal clear in this video -http://productionadvice.co.uk/beyonce-didnt-lip-sync-at-the-inauguration-but/

    There was a backing track, but she was singing over for the most part. Everyone’s right, and everyone’s wrong. There’s a reason why Beyonce was picked, and she did her job at entertaining us in the moment. At least she sang at ALL, unlike the marine band which mimed the whole damn thing.

  • http://twitter.com/Loxodonta_Stylz Rico Suricata

     I’m well aware of all of this, and I mostly agree with all except the part about the mic being dead.

    (Some people in attendance claimed to have heard at least some of Beyonce’s live singing through the speaker system. Maybe they’re confused, or dead-on. And I sure as hell didn’t hear her LIVE vocals through my TV. So who knows, ya know? So I won’t even touch that. But, like the Wall Street Journal video, it is clear that Beyonce was, indeed, singing along–live.) 

    I, like a few, knew instantly what I was hearing was a prerecorded track.

    So what’s the big fuss.

  • remulack

     If in fact she did actually sing along to her pre-recorded track, then it’s clear that she was physically capable of singing. I wonder then why she didn’t just sing live into a live mic instead of forcing the Marine Band, that had always played live up until that moment, to mime playing. I think it is quite something of her to ask them to do that.

  • remulack

     I listened to that and it sounded to me like an echo of the recorded track. They are EXACTLY the same.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/PVEFG2TOUIXSROKUSO2O2DOWWE Taylor

    Between the 30 and 40 second mark, the microphone picks up her scarf blowing in the wind. The mic was not dead. She was singing into it, that’s why you can hear two vocals. If the mic was picking up her scarf whipping in the wind, it was picking up her voice.

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