Did Beyoncé really lip-sync her performance of the National Anthem at Obama’s second swearing-in ceremony? A new statement, this time from an Inaugural official, is claiming she did.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday (January 23) that Bey “did not sing live” and instead what the crowd heard was a pre-recorded track she had made the day before.
“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.”
The official goes on to say that the decision to use the pre-reordered track was made the night before the Inauguration by the singer herself, adding that despite the fact that she was lip-syncing the day of the performance her voice was “spot on” in the studio. “She’s actually a very good live singer,” the official said.
This is the second person to come out and say Beyoncé was lip-syncing her performance.
On Tuesday (January 22), a spokeswoman from the Marine Corp Band told news outlets that the band was notified right before Beyoncé was to sing that she would be using a pre-recorded voice track.
“We performed, live, the band,” she said in a statement. “But we received last-minute word that Beyoncé was going to use the pre-recorded vocal track. Those were the instructions we were given. We don’t know the reason why.”
Later that same day, another Marine Band spokesperson released a statement countering the original allegations saying that because Beyoncé was unable to rehearse with the band before the event it was recommended she use the pre-recorded track, but did not go as far as accusing her of lip-syncing.
“Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter’s vocal performance,” the statement said. “No one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded.”
Though Beyoncé has yet to speak out (she seems to be busy rehearsing in New Orleans for the big Super Bowl half-time show on February 3), fellow celebs like Jennifer Lopez, Aretha Franklin and Anderson Cooper are speaking out on her behalf.
Now even Alicia Keys, who worked with Bey’s hubby, Jay-Z on “Empire State Of Mind,” is weighing in.
“What I do know is that Beyoncé is a great performer and she’s an incredible artist with a really, really powerful voice,” Keys told the UK radio station Capital FM. “The one thing that you cannot doubt is that she can sing. She absolutely can sing. All the rest of the ‘whys’ or ‘whatever,’ we know that she can deliver and she did deliver that song really beautifully.”
Do you think Beyoncé should address the controversy for herself?
- Shannon Carlin, Radio.com
