The ever-stranger mystery of Beyoncé and 'The Star-Spangled Banner'

Did the star lip-sync the national anthem at President Obama's inauguration? The Marine Corps band can't get its story straight

If Beyonce did indeed lip-sync her presidential inauguration performance, she won't be the first to have done so.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Jim Bourg)

Yesterday, the mini-scandal dropped: R&B sensation Beyoncé brazenly lip-synched her way through "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Obama's ceremonial inauguration — even dramatically pulling out her ear piece — perpetrating a massive fraud on the watching nation and world. And then, things got weird. The air-tight case against Beyoncé rested on the word of Master Sgt. Kristin duBois, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marine Band — or as you might know them, Beyoncé's backup ensemble at the inauguration. DuBois told at least two media outlets, for whatever reason, that the band played live but the singer had decided at the last minute to use a vocal track she had recorded the night before. But by Tuesday evening, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Gregory Wolf told The Associated Press that the band didn't play live, but "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."

So, what do we really know about Beyoncé's performance? First, that every inaugural singer, Beyoncé included, recorded a just-in-case version of their songs, as did the Marine Band, and that the other two vocalists — James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson — insist they sang (and played, in Taylor's case) live. Second, that there's precedent for both pre-taping and mimicking your performance at an Obama inauguration (Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman in 2009) and lip-synching perfect renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Whitney Houston at the 1991 Super Bowl). And third, according to a higher-ranking Marine Band spokesman, Capt. Eric Flanagan, the band did not play their instruments during the National Anthem and really has no idea if Beyoncé sang live or not.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.