These singers were caught in the act, the act being lip syncing. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the moments where performers were caught mouthing or playing along to audio tracks during performances.
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00:00 "The performance spiraling into disaster."
00:03 "We're getting here, buddy."
00:05 "I'll just get through the motions, okay?"
00:07 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the moments where performers were caught mouthing or playing along to audio tracks during performances.
00:16 "Come on and dance, my sweet love."
00:23 Number 10, 50 Cent, the 7th BET Awards.
00:27 While rehearsals can go off without a hitch, there's no telling what will happen during the actual show.
00:32 "Ride on the rollercoaster, lift 'em all up."
00:34 "Ride, ride, ride, here we go, here we go!"
00:37 "Up and down, up and down."
00:39 At the 2007 BET Awards, 50 Cent was performing "Amusement Park" when he suddenly switched to crowd work, skipping the whole first verse.
00:46 Viewers were perplexed and wondered if he had forgotten his lyrics or been lip-syncing to a broken audio track.
00:52 "Tighten it with your heart."
00:53 "Here we go, here we go!"
00:55 "What's up, Phil?"
00:59 He owned up to it and explained that he had been thrown off after nearly falling over at the beginning of the piece.
01:04 Afterwards, his mind went blank, which caused him to run into the audience.
01:09 His honest retelling of what happened made his fans much more understanding, and he's since proved how dynamic of an entertainer he is.
01:16 "Put your hands up, put your hands up, put your hands up, put your hands up, ride, ride."
01:23 Number 9. Ellie Goulding - The AFL Pre-Game Show
01:27 After being offered the opportunity to perform at a football pre-game, Goulding planned to sing her hit "Love Me Like You Do."
01:33 However, when it began, she appeared to not be completely ready, and the lyrics started without her.
01:39 She seemed genuinely confused and stood there for a few moments, which was just enough time for everyone to notice.
01:52 "Make a mess of my shit."
01:59 While she was able to recover, it didn't prevent the accusations from rolling in.
02:04 Her team explained that she had been planning to sing over the pre-recorded vocals.
02:08 This is a common practice for many live events, but the curtain hadn't been pulled back before this moment, which revealed an open secret about the industry.
02:16 "Love me like you do, love me like you do, love me like you do."
02:23 Number 8. The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Super Bowl XLVIII
02:27 Performing at the Super Bowl is a big deal.
02:29 When Bruno Mars invited the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play with him, they jumped at the chance.
02:34 However, there was one glaring issue. Their instruments were not plugged in, meaning if they were truly playing, they wouldn't have been heard.
02:42 "Give it away, give it away, give it away, yeah. Give it away, give it away, give it away, yeah. Give it away."
02:49 This led to speculation over the legitimacy of the entire set.
02:53 Their bassist Flea corrected the record. He explained that while their instruments were pre-recorded, their vocals were live.
02:59 He also mentioned that these parameters were set by the NFL.
03:03 "Flea says the league only had a few minutes to set up the stage and too many things could go wrong with the sound, but he insists the vocals were performed live."
03:11 It makes sense. For the biggest event of the year, it's better to be safe than sorry.
03:15 While understandable, it would have been nice to see them showcase their actual talent.
03:19 Number 7. Katy Perry - The 15th NRG Music Awards
03:31 When you're known for putting on an entertaining show, being caught lip-syncing can be an embarrassment like no other.
03:36 Katy Perry, who's known for her dynamic concerts, was set to perform "Roar" at the 2014 NRG Awards.
03:43 When she started to sing, fans quickly noticed that the verse didn't match up with her lips at all.
03:48 Eventually, someone came up on stage and told her to restart, saying that there were issues with the sound.
04:01 "If you don't mind, can we start? What do you think?"
04:04 "We can start?"
04:05 "Because we had a little problem with the sound."
04:07 After doing so, her actual voice was much more noticeable.
04:11 The awards show ended up issuing an apology shortly after, and Perry's supporters swiftly forgave her.
04:16 While she was able to move past it, we can't even imagine how brutal that must have been in the moment.
04:28 Number 6. Beyonce - The 57th Presidential Inauguration
04:33 If there's one event you do not want to take attention away from, it's this one.
04:37 During Barack Obama's second inauguration,
04:40 famed vocalist Beyonce was slated to open with the national anthem.
04:43 While she sounded amazing, people were shocked when members of the Marine Band came forward
04:54 to reveal she hadn't been singing live. While most would have denied it, she owned up to it.
05:00 She explained that she hadn't been able to properly rehearse and didn't want to take
05:03 the chance of doing a poor job.
05:05 She then proved just how well she could perform it by singing it off the cuff at a press conference.
05:19 Being able to take a negative experience and spinning it like that is the sign of a true icon.
05:24 Number 5. Britney Spears - 2014 Las Vegas Residency
05:36 Britney Spears has been accused of lip-syncing on more than one occasion,
05:46 with some claiming it's necessary due to the intense choreography she executed at each concert.
05:51 However, during her Vegas residency, there was an incident that no one could ignore.
05:56 While singing "Perfume," the voice people heard was Sia's rather than her own.
06:00 It was later revealed that the "Chandelier" singer had not only helped write the track,
06:11 but recorded a demo of it as well. This recording is what played during Spears' show.
06:16 Like the professional she is, Spears quickly recovered and pushed through it.
06:20 While it's an undeniably awkward moment, her commitment to finishing the number is admirable.
06:24 Number 4. Lindsay Lohan - Good Morning America It's tough proving some of those rumors right.
06:37 In the mid-2000s, Lindsay Lohan wanted to branch out into music and released her first single,
06:42 "Rumors." She was eventually invited to perform it on "Good Morning America."
06:46 [Music]
06:52 However, viewers couldn't help but notice that even when the star turned away from the mic,
06:56 her lyrics could still be heard clearly.
06:59 [Music]
07:06 This led to accusations of her not singing live. Lohan vehemently denied them,
07:11 saying that there was just a jam track to help keep her oriented. While those are used,
07:15 the fact that she leaned on her so heavily did not impress,
07:18 which ended her pop career before it had even started.
07:22 [Music]
07:29 Number 3. Mariah Carey - Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest
07:34 [Music]
07:39 When you're known for your otherworldly voice,
07:42 being caught lip-syncing can seem like a genuine betrayal. When "The Queen of Christmas" was slated
07:47 to perform at 2016's New Year's Rockin' Eve, fans were ecstatic. However, once the performance
07:53 actually started, their hopes were quickly dashed.
07:55 [Music]
07:59 Everything seemed to go off the rails, with the backing vocals immediately malfunctioning.
08:03 While Mariah tried correcting herself, she was so thrown off by the mistake that she
08:08 stopped entirely and let the crowd take over while she commented on the issues.
08:11 [Music]
08:17 It was tough to watch such an established professional become so frustrated mid-performance.
08:22 While she seemed to be in good spirits about it afterwards, the night was an unfortunate low point.
08:26 [Music]
08:28 Number 2. Ashley Simpson - Saturday Night Live
08:32 When starting out as a musician, it's important to nail every event. So, when burgeoning star
08:37 Ashley Simpson was asked to appear on Saturday Night Live, expectations were high.
08:42 [Music]
08:49 While the first song went off without a hitch, things quickly fell apart when it was time for
08:53 the second performance. Upon beginning, the same vocal from the earlier song started to play,
08:58 revealing that she hadn't actually sung it.
09:00 [Music]
09:08 Instead of playing it off or pushing through it, she did a silly dance to distract from it,
09:12 adding to her humiliation. Not only did it mar her SNL appearance, it threw her career off trajectory.
09:18 [Music]
09:25 While embarrassing, she has been able to learn and grow from the experience,
09:29 and has found success in other endeavors.
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09:52 Number 1. Milli Vanilli - Club MTV
09:57 [Music]
10:03 In the late 1980s, Milli Vanilli took the world by storm. However, any respect they had earned
10:09 was quickly lost after one fateful Club MTV concert appearance. During "Girl You Know It's True,"
10:15 the pre-recorded track skipped, playing the same line repeatedly.
10:18 [Music]
10:22 Their reaction only made things worse, with one member even running offstage.
10:27 This was the loose string that unraveled their entire operation. While this particular incident
10:32 didn't initially make huge waves among the audience, it did kickstart the public's mounting
10:36 questions about their authenticity. Sure enough, it would soon be revealed that the duo had never
10:41 sung any of their music, and were just the faces of the group.
10:45 "The two performers involved, Rob Palaitis and Fab Morvan, released a statement claiming they were
10:51 actually prevented from singing by their own producer."
10:54 The deception going so deep was unforgivable. Their careers were over, and unlike other artists,
11:00 they were never able to recover.
11:02 "We were famous, now we're infamous."
11:05 Have any of your favorite singers been caught lip-syncing? Let us know in the comments below.
11:09 [Music]
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11:24 [Music]