Beyonce Lip Sync Backlash; Aretha Franklin Laughs at Diva's Pre-Recorded Performance
Aretha Franklin has been in the music business for many years. She sang at President Obama’s last inauguration in 2009 so it comes as no surprise that the Soul Queen offered up her two cents on the whole Beyoncé lip-syncing debacle.
She told ABC News, “When I heard the news this evening that she was pre-recorded I really laughed.”
“I thought it was funny because the weather down there was about 46 or 44 degrees and for most singers that is not good singing weather. When I heard that I just really cracked up. I thought it was really funny, but she did a beautiful job with a pre-record. Next time I’ll probably do the same.”
Franklin reflected on her turn at the podium in 2009 when she sang “My Country Tis of Thee.”
“In 2009, I wanted everything to be live and on the real side for the moment as it actually happened,” she said.
As a singer having experienced singing in cold weather before, Franklin admitted Beyoncé faced challenging odds.
“Those were my feelings for my performance, but having come face to face with 28, 22 degrees I am not surprised she pre-recorded," she said. "She wanted her performance to be what she wanted to be and she realized it wasn’t going to be the way she wanted it to be or she was going to be running a risk. That’s probably why she pre-recorded exactly how she wanted it to be heard. “
Beyoncé and her crew were all set to sing the song live but scrapped that plan and opted to lip-sync over a pre-recorded track. Inauguration attendees who sat up close next to the president’s Marine Band were able to make out the fact that she wasn’t really singing. The band led by Colonel Michael J. Colburn was in on the deceptive plot, as band members were ordered to mimic the action of playing instruments.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Marine band first told U.S. news outlets on Tuesday that the "Single Ladies" star "decided to go with the pre-recorded music at the last minute" and that, to the spokeswoman's knowledge, she was not actually singing the anthem.
But the U.S. Marine band later backtracked, saying in a statement: "Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter's vocal performance, no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded."
