Master Sgt. Kristin DuBois, spokeswoman for the President’s Own United States Marine Band, confirms to USA TODAY’s Maria Puente that Beyoncé was lip-syncing.

It’s standard operating procedure for musicians to pre-record crucial music such as Hail to the Chief and The Star-Spangled Banner. “You can’t have a presidential inauguration and not have Hail to the Chief and Star-Spangled Banner,” she says.

And it’s not unprecedented to use the pre-recorded track, as Yo-Yo Ma did last time, classical instruments being delicate in cold weather. But the band performed live for the entire ceremony, except for Beyoncé.

DuBois says they were “surprised” to be given instructions during the ceremonies that they were to stand and pretend to play their instruments during the national anthem, and they “don’t know” why that decision was made. Or even who made it. Probably Beyoncé. “It’s not what we would have chosen, but we were instructed to do it so we did.”‘

And offering more possible evidence, Gilbert notes that “the day before the ceremony, Beyoncé posted pictures to her Instagram account that appeared to show her in a recording studio. In one, she holds a copy of the sheet music to The Star Spangled Banner in front of a microphone attached to a recording device, and in another she sits in front of recording equipment while members of the Marine Corps Band stand clutching sheet music behind her.”

She has not commented.

In 2009, Beyoncé took some heat for lip-syncing at the Oscars.

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