Marine Band says Beyoncé 'did not actually sing' during inaugural, then backpedals
Washington (CNN) - Pop star Beyoncé opted to use a "pre-recording" of her rendition of the National Anthem during inaugural ceremonies in Washington Monday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marine Band told CNN Tuesday.
U.S. Marine Band spokeswoman Kristen DuBois said early Tuesday that "we know why the decision was made," adding that the pop star "did not actually sing," but instead lip-synched her own voice.
Later in the day, however, the Marine Corps said in a statement that no one in their organization "is in a position to assess whether [Beyoncé's vocal performance] was live or pre-recorded."
The conflicting reports from the Marines have yet to be clarified by a statement from Beyoncé or her representatives, who have not responded to CNN's requests for comment.
Originally, DuBois said Beyoncé "pre-recorded" a version of the song the evening before Inauguration Day after rehearsing with the U.S. Marine Band.
In the later statement the Marine Corps said "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."
"Each piece of music scheduled for performance in the Inauguration is pre-recorded for use in case of freezing temperatures, equipment failure, or extenuating circumstances," the statement read.
DuBois said such pre-recordings are "not unusual," and that recording musical performances prior to inauguration ceremonies are a necessity in case something should go awry.
"We all know Beyoncé can sing and the Marine Band can play," DuBois said. "I've been with the band 14 years. It's not unusual."
"You can't have an inaugural without the National Anthem," she added.
American cellist Yo-Yo Ma was forced to use a pre-recording during President Obama's first Inaugural four years ago, due to frigid temperatures.
Many inauguration viewers may have also noticed Beyoncé pulled her ear piece out during her performance. But DuBois did not have an explanation as to why the pop star removed the ear piece.
The Times of London first reported the story.
A representative for Kelly Clarkson, who also performed at the ceremony, tells CNN Entertainment that Clarkson did indeed sing live. And a representative for James Taylor, another performer on Monday, confirms his vocals and acoustic guitar were live, as well.
who cares? she was there as eye candy. and it wasn't a paid performance was it? nobody should expect them to be singing for real at these sorts of entertainment events.
So what? It sounded fantastic.
And........what a waste of bandwidth and bits. Seems more of the Fox flavor.
So many folks think that if you got the pipes it's easy to go out and sing. There are a lot of variables that need to come together and the singer is not always in control of them. With the risk of damaging an event this large, it's no wonder they went that route.
Well that shouldnt be a surprise to anyone.. all you get from the regime and his supporters is "Lip Syncing".. no real substance..
You mean something UNTRUE came from the Obama Administration.....NO...can't be
perhaps it would be a good idea to lip-synch taking the oath of office too.
I don't care for Beyonce at all but I loved the way she kept her back to Paul Ryan. I'm sure she resents her parents and her grandparents being called "takers" when they had to work hard for a living. Great job Beyonce, I would ignore him too. After all, he's used to it by now.
As for her dubbing her own voice, perfectly legal. No big deal.
James Taylor was the big disappointment for me. I always liked his music and was totally stunned at his performance.
The late Whitney Houston made all the others sound bad, as I don't think anyone will sing the National Anthem better than she did. At least not in my lifetime.
If they're all going to lip-sync, why don't they just play a recording?
It is long past time to start boycotting artists that cannot sing live or use the Vocoder (Auto-Tune). You are not a musician if you have to have electronics to keep you in tune. That is just pathetic. You are not a musician if you use Auto-Tune.
Well, she DID sing it, she just didn't sing live. What law was broken with that?
What better way to start off the new term than with an illusion of grandeur?
If I had to perform in frigid temperatures, I'd probably opt to lip sinc as well. So not a big deal. Could we move on, please?
...wow, guess she's not all she's cracked up to "Bey" LOL
What a non sense comment by that spokewoman. Beyonce did sing live the Anthem, there is not the minimum doubt. She may have recorded it the previous day, just in case, but she sang live. There is abosuletly no doubt. Bouuuuuu to the comment !!!!
Whitney Houston's famous rendition at the superbowl was lip-synced also according to several media sources.
I wonder what all the so-called "patriots" thought of Whitney Houston's lip-sync during the Super Bowl after 9-11? Did they spout the same outrage or was it "She was fantastic! What a good American she is" "so proud of her"?
Who is beyonce?
That was actually a good idea. Can you imagine if it somehow got messed up? She'd be living that down for years. Meantime what we got was a beautiful rendition of a song to make us all proud
James Taylor didn't seem to have any problems. And he actually was playing a guitar as well. A true artist & musician.
She lip-synched!! My gosh, next thing you'll report is Obama used a teleprompter
Once upon a time, musicians really played and vocalists really sang, even in chilly weather. BTW, after hearing commentary about Beyonce's "astounding" performance, I had to laugh. As far as I'm concerned, her rendition was no better or worse than any amateur who sings the national anthem before a baseball game, and now I know why. Whitney Houston's anthem performance was legendary-and LIVE!!! (or now come to think of it, I'm not even sure that was live anymore). Whitney set the standard by which every other vocalist is measured. The arrangement was groundbreaking at the time, and so was the emotion behind the delivery. End of story.
I can guarantee you the Marine Band was actually playing their instruments. Your "frigid temperature" argument doesn't hold much water when the MCB were holding large pieces of brass up to their faces. Singers always use lame excuses like that.
From what the Marine music director said, what occured was nothing out of the ordinary. No doubt, the acoustics would have been very different with a mall filled with a million people. Using pre-recorded music and/or vocals means there will no chance of feedback squelches coming through the speakers.
They why have her there at all, just a bunch of excuses.