Garth Brooks Admits To Lip-Syncing At CMAs: “My Voice Isn’t Going Anywhere”

Country music legend Garth Brooks admits to lip-syncing his performance at the 2017 CMA Awards.

GARTH BROOKS LIP SYNCS DURING CMA AWARDS PERFORMANCE

Brooks won Entertainer of the Year for the second year in a row last night, and performed “Ask Me How I Know” from his latest album Gunslinger. Many fans called the singer out of Twitter for not really singing during the show. At the end of the night when asked, Brooks admitted to lip-syncing.

He explained that he was under the weather, and had already played 12 shows in just ten days. “We made a game-time call on whether to sing to a track or lip-sync,” the singer said. “And we decided to lip-sync it… My voice just isn’t going anywhere, and we wanted to represent country music the best we can.”

Many fans expressed disappointment in the singer, a six-time CMA Entertainer of the Year. Some thought the decision reflected poorly on the legend, while others were more hurt by it. “My heart is broken – how could you lip sync?” one user asked on Twitter. “REALLY?? Everyone’s up there shouting u out for being a “legend” and you’re gonna freaking lip sync overdramatically like a fool to your own song?? #Over,” said another.

Some even posted videos of the most egregious of his lip sync errors, though the official CMA Twitter account posted one of the best, saying, “Loving this performance by reigning #CMAawards Entertainer of the Year!”

Loving this performance by reigning #CMAawards Entertainer of the Year @GarthBrooks! pic.twitter.com/15QXawypfK

— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 9, 2017

The 55-year-old has previously discusses the possibility of lip syncing ahead of award shows in 2015. He said he’d prerecorded a live version of “All-American Kid” before the Academy of Country Music Awards, just in case his voice was not well enough to perform. “It’s going to come right down to the wire because I didn’t think I had a voice at the [Lifting Lives] gala last night, so we’ll see how it goes,” Brooks said at the time. “Either way, the track’s not going to be perfect. For one, I can’t do perfect, it’s just not in my DNA. The track, even if we’re lip-syncing, is as live as it gets.”