Beyonce Admits Faking It at Inauguration (But She'll Sing Live at the Super Bowl, Honest)

Beyonce Knowles stepped up to reporters on Thursday and admitted what pretty much everyone -- except the United States Marine Band, apparently -- already knew: That she faked it while performing the National Anthem at President Obama's inauguration ceremony earlier this month.

The "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" singer 'fessed up during a press conference for Sunday's Super Bowl, where she'll perform during the halftime show, admitting that she lip synced "The Star Spangled Banner" -- but that she's nonetheless "very proud" of her performance.

Also read: Beyoncegate: Singer Caught Lip-Syncing at Inauguration

"I am a perfectionist. One thing about me, I practice until my feet bleed," Knowles said at the conference. "I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra. It was a live television show, and a very, very important emotional show for me, one of my proudest moments. Due to the weather, due to the delay, due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about the president and the inauguration, and I wanted to make him and my country proud so I decided to sing along with my prerecorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I'm very proud of my performance."

But just because Beyonce didn't actually perform live at the inauguration doesn't mean she won't belt it out for real at Sunday's Big Game. Knowles vowed to actually, you know, sing at the Super Bowl.

Also read: Aretha Franklin Approves of Beyonce's "Beautiful" Inaugural Lip-Syncing

"I will absolutely be singing live. I am well-rehearsed, and I will absolutely be singing live. This is what I was born to do."

Beyonce's quasi-performance at the inaugural ceremony cast a faint pall over the festivities after the New York Times revealed that Knowles had performed to a pre-recorded track.

A spokeswoman for the United States Marine Band told the Times that Knowles had, in fact, used a recorded version of the song that she'd taped the previous night at the Marine Barracks Annex.

"We don't know why," Master Sgt. Kristin duBois said. "But that is what we were instructed to do, so that is what we did. It's not because Beyoncé can't sing. We all know Beyoncé can sing. We all know the Marine Band can play."

However, later in the day, the Marines backed off that assertion, saying in a statement that the band was not "in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded."

And now we know. Unless Beyonce was faking her admission too.

Watch Beyonce come clean in the video.

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