Aretha Franklin Defends Beyonce in Lip Sync Scandal & Thinks Outrage is Silly

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Yesterday, you would have not had one clue that another school shooting occurred in Texas, and that’s because the biggest story yesterday, surprisingly, was whether or not Beyonce lip synced at the Inauguration. The singer initially received glowing reviews for her rendition of the historical song, but not too long after, a tabloid in London suggested that they believed the singer lip synced. Hours later, bigger American tabloids picked the story up, and a sergeant  of the Marines suggested that Beyonce did not sing live. And of course, it was only a matter of time before the big news outlets picked up the story, with no care of the source.

Master Sgt. of the U.S. Marine Band Kristin duBois said:

“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.”

Hours later, the official spokesperson for the Marines said there is no way that a sergeant would even have that kind of knowledge about an inaugural performance. The spokesperson released the following statement:

“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. 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.”

Interestingly enough, critics of Beyonce claim she had no business lip syncing because the greats have never done it. But if research serves us correct, Whitney Houston did not sing the National Anthem live during her historical Super Bowl performance. Both singers lip synced to their own voices (if Beyonce did lip sync, it has not been confirmed), so we have to admit, we’re surprised as to why this is even a big deal. Singers have been doing this for years in cold conditions and for special events.

Regardless, legendary singer Aretha Franklin tells ABC News that she thinks the whole situation is silly since it is Beyonce’s voice and singers do this all the time. Aretha also suggested that she will do it herself if she gets invited to sing at another Inauguration, since she said she struggled to sing the last time.

She says:

“Beyonce did a beautiful job. But, 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 just 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 the pre-record … next time I’ll probably do the same.

“I think it’s optional really, it’s up to the artist. In 2009, I wanted everything to be live and on the real side for the moment as it actually happened. 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 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.”