Beyonce’s Inauguration Performance Of The National Anthem Was Literally Too Good To Be True

January 22nd, 2013

Dayton O'Connor

Oh B, no.

Anyone who had a chance to catch President Obama’s public inauguration ceremonies yesterday was treated to an absolutely stunning rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by none other than the Queen Bee herself.

The internet fawned over Beyonce’s general fabulousness. TMZ called it “f**king awesome,” and Buzzfeed posted a whole bunch of screenshots and gifs breaking down every flawless aspect of Beyonce’s being, as is their wont.

Beyonce did indeed do a wonderful job singing the national anthem! When she recorded the track that she lip-synced to while on stage in Washington, DC, that is.

Washingtonian Magazine initially speculated that Beyonce might’ve been pantomiming along to a pre-recorded track. The publication pointed to a handful of Instagram pictures posted the day before the event showing the R&B singer in what appears to be a recording studio while holding sheet music for “The Star-Spangled Banner” and with members of the Marine Corps Band in tow.

Eventually, The London Times would confirm the story with word from Marine Corps Band spokeperson Kristen DuBois stating that Beyonce decided to utilize a pre-recorded backing track for her performance rather than sing live.

Watch Beyonce’s almost-live rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” below while you weep over the death of authenticity.