International superstar (and major Obama supporter) Beyonce apparently didn’t give it her all yesterday when she performed the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ during the president’s second inauguration ceremony.
That’s because, as the Washingtonian first reported yesterday, Mrs. Jay-Z didn’t actually sing live!
Kristin Dubois, Master Sgt. of the U.S. Marine Corps Band, confirmed to ABC News earlier today that pre-recorded music was used for Beyonce’s number. ”We all know Beyonce can sing. We all know the Marine Corps Band can play. We do not know why she decided to go with the pre-recorded music at the last minute,” said Dubois.
Dubois did add that while all of the performances were pre-recorded as a precaution, the band did play live throughout the rest of the ceremony, including the performances by Kelly Clarkson and James Taylor.
The night before the inauguration, Beyonce posted on Instagram a photo of herself in a recording studio with the sheet music to the “Star Spangled Banner.” She also noticeably removed her earpiece halfway through her performance.
This is not the first time synced music has been used at an inauguration. In 2009 cellist Y0-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman did not perform their version of John Williams’ “Air and Simple Gifts” live because of the weather that day.
Beyonce was also accused of lip syncing during the 2009 Oscars. Officials for the awards show refused to confirm or deny the allegation: “As is the case with any live event of this scale and scope, there are always elements of the show that are pre-recorded. But I will not go into detail about which elements were on this show.”
You can check out Beyonce’s performance for yourself here:
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