Beyonce backlash: Following reports and brewing backlash that Beyonce may have lip- synced her way through “The Star Spangled Banner,” the other vocalists from Monday’s inauguration ceremony have taken the defensive, saying their performances were indeed live.
James Taylor, who was first to take the stage with “America the Beautiful,” claimed his folksy, guitar-accompanied rendition was the real thing. “He was playing and singing live,” his representative said. Publicists for Kelly Clarkson, who performed “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” have also issued a statement, emphatically noting “Kelly did sing live.”
The comments from the singers’ representatives point to a key question. If Clarkson and Taylor performed live, why didn’t Beyonce, the ceremony’s main act?
A member of the Marine Corps Band, who accompanied Beyonce, admitted they faked their part due to a lack of rehearsal time. “The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) requested that the marine band accompany Beyonce Knowles-Carter in the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 2013 inaugural ceremony. However, there was no opportunity for Ms. Knowles-Carter to rehearse with the marine band before the inauguration, so it was determined that a live performance by the band was ill-advised for such a high-profile event,” Capt. Gregory A. Wolf told FOX411 in a statement.
However, Wolf would not directly say the Beyonce lip-sync rumors were true. “Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter’s vocal performance, no one in the marine band is in a position to assess whether it was live or prerecorded,” he said.
Meanwhile, other singers are coming to Beyonce’s defense. Jennifer Lopez, who was a guest last night on The Daily Show, noted “In certain venues they do prerecord things because you’re gonna have that terrible slap-back.”
Even the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, said she was amused by the lip-sync reports. “When I heard the news this evening that she was prerecorded, 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 just not good singing weather,” Franklin told ABC News in an interview. However, Franklin also said Beyonce “did a beautiful job” and she enjoyed the rendition regardless.
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