12 Celebrities Who Admitted To Lip Syncing

Many of our favorite stars have been caught in lip-syncing scandals. When celebrities appear at big events or play big shows, they sometimes use recorded tracks of their voice to ensure that they sound good at the show. There are many different variables that might lead a singer to decide to lip-sync. The reason people think a singer chooses to lip-sync are usually very different from the actual reasons. Most people assume that singers lip-sync because they're lazy or because their voice isn't as good as it sounds on their studio albums, but for the most part this isn't true.

For big, live events, singers often lip-sync to avoid mistakes. Singing at a live event in from of millions of people is totally nerve-wracking and it helps to have a little assurance that you're not going to totally flub a note or be off pitch. This is especially true if the singer is sick or the weather conditions are poor. When it's cold and rainy, this actually impacts a singer's vocal chords and makes it harder for them to perform.

Another common reason that singers lip sync is that it's physically impossible for them to sing while performing all those killer dance routines. It's no longer enough for a singer to have an amazing voice, they have to perform insane dance routines as well. Those dance routines take a lot of energy, and more importantly, a lot of breath control. Singing also takes a lot of breath control, so sometimes a singer literally can't sing and dance at the same time, so they lip-sync.

We expect so much of these performers that it's almost understandable why they'd need to lip sync sometimes! In fact, these signers have all admitted to lip-syncing at some point in their careers.

12 Milli Vinilli

The first major lip-syncing scandal happened in the late 80's with the group Milli Vanilli. Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan made up the group Milli Vanilli that exploded on to the music scene in the late 80's. In 1989, they won the Grammy for Best New Artist, but that Grammy was revoked after it was discovered that the group had been lip-syncing the whole time. They hadn't even recorded their own album.

Unlike most lip-syncing scandals, where the singer is caught lip-syncing a few times, Milli Vanilli had lip-synced their entire careers. The music industry was appalled. In an interview given in 1990 Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan said that they did it because they were poor and starving. A producer had approached them asking to be the faces, but not the singers of a new project. The two saw this as a golden opportunity to improve their circumstances, so they took it.

11 Victoria Beckham

Even when the Spice Girls were at the height of their popularity, rumors flew that Victoria Beckham actually couldn't sing; that she was just a pretty face to round out the girl band. Her solo lines on the album were never quite sung and her voice is rarely heard clearly above the other singers.

Last year Beckham admitted that at many of the live shows back in their heyday, the producers would simply turn off her mic and let the other girls sing. She would lip-sync entire concerts. Beckham hinted that it was not her choice to lip-sync at the shows, but that the producers would simply turn off her mic.

Luckily Beckham wasn't married to the idea of being a pop star. What she loved the most about the Spice Girls was the fashion. She loved getting to dress up for free and discovered that she wanted to go in to fashion while working with the girl group. Since then, she's launched a wildly successful career in fashion.

10 Beyonce

Even Queen Bey has been caught up in a lip-syncing scandal. When she performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2013, the Internet immediately exploded with speculation that she had lip-synced. Celebrities both defended her and condemned her for lip-syncing the performance and for a while, she stayed silent. But at the end of that month, Beyonce had admitted to lip-syncing during the performance.

Beyonce had always been very outspoken about singing for real when she performed live. It had been pointed out plenty of times before that her intricate dance routines may make it hard for her to sing live, but Bey always insisted that she sang, not lip-synced. So, it was a shocking revelation when she admitted to lip-syncing at the inauguration.

When she made the admission, she insisted that she just wanted to be perfect for the President. She hadn't had a chance to rehearse with the band and her vocals weren't up to her super high standards that day, so she made the last minute decision to lip-sync her performance so she would do the President proud.

9 Britney Spears

Britney Spears has been the target of numerous lip-syncing accusations. For years, she's been accused of lip syncing at her live performances. Part of the reason that people question whether she's lip-syncing is the difficulty of the dance routines she performs during her shows. It's long been questioned whether she could keep up with her routines and sing at the same time. Accusations of lip-syncing intensified when Spears got a regular show in Vegas and began performing multiple times per week for 90 minutes at a time.

Shortly after Spears landed the residency in Vegas, her manager admitted that it would be nearly impossible for her to sing the entire show and perform the routines that she had planned for the Vegas shows. Her managerial team insisted that she sings whenever it's possible for her to sing given the routine she's performing. They made it clear that she doesn't ever lip-sync an entire performance.

8 Ashlee Simpson

One of the most prominent lip-syncing scandals of the modern era occurred on SNL, when the wrong recorded track played while Ashlee Simpson attempted to lip-sync the song she'd intended to sing. The singer was supposed to be singing the track “Autobiography,” but when the band started to play, the track for the wrong song could be heard and Ashlee wasn't even singing. She attempted to play it off by dancing for a hot minute, but eventually bolted off the stage mortified.

Simpson took full blame for the lip-syncing flub, but released a couple of different stories as to why it had happened. At first, she tried to say that the producers simply played the wrong track, that it should have been pre-recorded percussion tracks for the band. Then she backtracked again, saying that her voice was in bad shape from her rigorous tour schedule.

7 Jennifer Hudson

Sometimes, lip-syncing isn't even the singer's choice. For many high stakes, live performances, the producers of the show make the decision that the singer will lip-sync. That was the case with Jennifer Hudson's performance of the National Anthem at the 2009 Super Bowl. She agreed to lip-sync because the pre-game producer, Rickey Minor, pretty much insisted. In an interview, Minor admitted that the Super Bowl is just too high stakes and that most performers lip-sync their pre-game performances. He said it would be just as much of a scandal if the performer messed up badly.

Minor also speculated that Hudson might have been relieved by the request because it was her first public performance since the tragic murders of her family in October 2008. The star wanted to give the best performance possible, and in this case, that meant using a pre-recorded track.

Lip-syncing the pre-game performances for the Super Bowl isn't anything new either. Many stars, not just Hudson, have lip-synced their performances. Most famously, perhaps, Whitney Houston. Her performance of the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl was revealed to be lip-syncing after her death.

6 Vanessa Williams

Vanessa Williams is another celebrity who admitted to lip-syncing their Super Bowl performance. She performed the National Anthem at the 1996 Super Bowl, and years later, after Beyonce's inauguration lip-sync scandal, Williams admitted that the performance was pre-recorded. Like many others who have admitted to lip-syncing at the Super Bowl, Williams said that she did so at the request of the producers.

In an interview, she stated that the producers' goal is to provide the audience with the best performance possible and it's really hard to do that without lip-syncing. She stated that there were just too many things that go on during a Super Bowl performance to ensure a solid performance. There's lights and pyrotechnics and it's a band you've never worked with before. All these factors make it really difficult for the performer to deliver a great show, so more often than not, the producers insist on lip-syncing instead of a live performance.

5 Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey has been accused of lip-syncing multiple times, but finally had to admit to doing so after her performance at “Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve” event in 2016. The singer was way out of sync with the music and vocals playing behind her, making it painfully obvious that she was lip-syncing. Carey made matters worse by joking about the fact that they hadn't done a soundcheck before the performance, sparking rumors that she hadn't even rehearsed for the show.

The singer stayed silent about the mishap for a few days, but when she finally spoke out, she blamed technical difficulties. She said that her in ear mic wasn't playing, so she couldn't hear any of her cues in order to follow the music. She even accused the producers of purposely messing her up.

Carey didn't directly apologize for the lip-syncing, but did admit that she was mortified about getting caught in the act. Since lip-syncing still carries such a stigma in the music industry, many singers keep their lip-syncing secret.

4 Rascal Flatts

When popular band Rascal Flatts performed at the Country Music Awards in 2014, fans noticed that their performance sounded just a little too much like the album version of the song. Fans then started to point out indications that the lead singer, Gary Levox, might have been lip-syncing. The band quickly released a statement admitting to the lip-syncing on social media.

They said that after a week that included multiple performances, Gary had actually lost his voice. They decided to have him lip-sync the performance instead of canceling their appearance on the Country Music Awards.

This scenario highlights the difficult decisions performers have to make all the time. Canceling the performance last minute would have angered fans and left the Country Music Awards scrambling to find a replacement act. It would have caused the band a lot of trouble, so they chose to lip-sync. When they got caught, they got ridiculed as well. It's an awful catch-22 for these performers.

3 Cher

In 2013, Cher went on the Ellen DeGeneres show to do a performance with her mother. They were there to promote the album her 87 year old mother had just released. We all wish we could be as cool as Cher's mom releasing an album at 87. The duo performed a song off the album and it was pretty clear that both of them were lip-syncing. The Internet backlash was harsh, but Cher's clap back was just as harsh.

Cher lashed back at critics saying that they had lip-synced the performance because her mother had been battling pneumonia. She reminded fans that her mother was older and revealed that she had been working insane hours to release the album and do promotions. Cher shot back that she was lucky her mom was around to perform at all and asked fans why it was such a big deal that she chose to lip-sync because of her health.

Again, this highlights the ridicule singers endure for deciding to lip-sync for health reasons.

2 Jennifer Lopez

In the aftermath of Beyonce's inauguration lip-sync scandal, many celebrities spoke out in support of her choice. Most prominently, Jennifer Lopez came to Beyonce's defense. She didn't directly admit to lip-syncing any of her performances, but she did say that pretty much every performer has to lip-sync at some point in their career. She said that the venue has a lot to do with whether or not a performer chooses to lip-sync. Sometimes, like at the Super Bowl, the producers actually require you to lip-sync. Sometimes the performers decide to lip-sync based on the logistics of their venue.

Regardless of the reasoning behind the decision to lip-sync, Jennifer Lopez made it completely clear that all singers have to lip-sync at some point in their careers and there's nothing wrong with it. She referred to the 1991 Super Bowl where Whitney Houston lip-synced the National Anthem as proof that even the greatest performers li-sync sometimes.

1 Chris Daughtry

American Idol star, Chris Daughtry was caught lip-syncing during his 2015 performance at the Macy's Day parade. In response to the accusations, Daughtry fired back saying that no one sings live at the Macy's Day Parade. He said that Mariah Carey, who performed at the parade after him, also lip-synced, and that all the other performers lip-synced that day as well.

Rumors have floated around for years that no one sings live during their Macy's Day Parade performances. Other performers, like Ashley Tisdale, have been caught lip-syncing their Macy's Day Parade performances as well. The rumor is that Macy's doesn't allow any of the singers to actually perform live; they require all performers to lip-sync. This has never been confirmed, but a few celebrities, like Daughtry, have let it slip that Macy's asked them not to perform live.

Like with the Super Bowl, frequently lip-synced performances are the Macy's Day Parade's dirty little secret.

There are so many reasons that a singer may choose to lip-sync a particular performance, and sometimes it's not even their choice. If they're sick and feel they may give a bad performance they choose to lip-sync so they don't disappoint their fans. If illness would mean canceling a performance, they choose to lip-sync rather than lose out on the money and exposure that a high profile appearance brings. If their performances are so intricate and rigorous that singing for the entire show is nearly impossible, they choose to lip-sync so they can perform the rest of the routine. Sometimes the venue requires them to lip-sync.

Since there are so many rational reasons for singers to choose to lip-sync, isn't it time we stop vilifying them for it? It's not like they're lip-syncing entire performances every time they have a show. They're using it strategically to give a better performance. What's wrong with that?