Artist that lip-sync on stage shouldn't have a career. amirite?

The issue with Milli Vanilli isn't just that they lip synced on stage. They didn't even sing on the album. They were performers pretending they were the artists on the album. They even accepted Grammy awards knowing they weren't the singers. Awards that were promptly taken back when it was all revealed.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Their manager forced it all too. Wasn't their idea, they wanted so desperately to be the ones actually singing.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I remember when Milli Vanilli rebranded as "Rob & Fab" & actually sang themselves. they appeared on the Arsenio Hall show. Arsenio's first question after the performance: "wow, you guys can actually sing, why didn't you do that the first time" they just looked so sad like "dude, we wanted to"

by Anonymous 1 year ago

And then later in the show it became evident that they really couldn't sing, even when you let them.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Fab could sing, well enough lol. But Rob was ass.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

As opposed to Snap's "The Power" where they made the backup singer the main voice then had a young dancer lip sync on the video or some such.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Same with C&C Music Factory. Everybody Dance Now!

by Anonymous 1 year ago

>The issue with Milli Vanilli isn't just that they lip synced on stage. They didn't even sing on the album. They were performers pretending they were the artists on the album. Kind of reminds me of Ashley Simpson's old SNL performance. I'd have to imagine that lip syncing is just about everywhere these days too.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Ashley Simpson actually sang the song on the album though.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Doesn't J Lo not actually sing on her albums or something like that?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

That was a cute little jig she did to get offstage tho.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I'm a fan of EDM, but I'm 100 percent sure most of those DJs are just playing off their ipod. You can't be mixing the track from scratch with your hands up in the air. Lol

by Anonymous 1 year ago

They're not claiming to recreate the tracks as they perform, it's pressing play and cueing up the next track mostly. Also adjusting EQ and volume levels. Some DJs will occasionally have the entire set pre-mixed so they only have to press play once at the start, and that's seen as a massive cop out.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

A lot of those guys are pretty talented producers. I'd have to go to several of their concerts to know for sure whether it's always the same or if there's a lot of variation to the performance.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Depends on the genre and the setting. A lot of bigger festival sets are prerecorded due to the lighting/visuals needing consistency. In the dubstep/bass music scene prerecorded sets are generally frowned upon though, can't really speak for other genres though.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Yeah and now there's autotune so Mini Vanilla could've had a career if they existed today. Their only mistake was to be born 20 years too early.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Autotune still relies on the performer's vocals. The problem with Milli Vanilli was that it wasn't them at all. There were entirely different people doing all the music and they were just there to dance on stage and do tours essentially.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It'd be nice if a lot of artists these days were more focused around the music itself and were bands that were properly developed and could really play. I think when the industry started to manufacture artists is when problems began to arise. That and all of the choreography now makes things more difficult too.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Isn't that Jennifer Lopez too? That's what I've always heard.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I've heard that too. That for most of her recordings it's someone else singing.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Same thing with Gorillaz! What a scam! /s

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I know right? Not a single gorilla singing!

by Anonymous 1 year ago

& then JLO did the same thing 😂

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I mean most artists don't even write their songs so they really aren't too far off from this

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Not writing your own songs is irrelevant. Celine Dion, Rod Steward, Mariah Carey, Tom Jones don't write their own songs but they are unquestionably great artists. Same with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, and nearly all other crooners.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Not writing your songs, auto tune and lip syncing seems like you're just paying to see a performer not really an artist or a singer.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Singing and performing are arts. And people have been singing songs they didn't write since songs have existed.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I think you're confusing lip syncing with having a backing track with your vocals

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Sing a capella or GTFO

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Sing acapella and without any equipement, no mic, no sound treatment (EQ, etc) on your voice, nothing, just like they did in tHe GoOd Ol' DaYs

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Cue barbershop quartet

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I only listen to beat boxing. Everyone else shouldn't have a career.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Nah man, a lot of rappers just literally play songs and dance on the stage. Went to rolling loud one year and many rappers wasn't even singing 10% of their songs. There are also many who were singing, but as far as I remember people like lil uzi, asap rocky and yg were definitely just playing songs.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Rolling loud was streaming on Amazon and uzi was just hopping around on stage with a bunch of nasty looking BBL twerking on stage . Ita was super bad. Not only does his music suck his live performances were lackluster.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

That's understandable though, certain kinds of rap just don't work well as performed songs. Many rappers spend a ton of production time layering vocals and you just can't reproduce that live without sounding super flat and lifeless.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Literally, not the same thing. They weren't the ones who recorded their songs in the first place. Say what you want about how live music should be performed but do the research and make sure that the arguments or opinion you're presenting, is well informed and accurate.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It literally depends on what you're going to see. If I'm going to see an artist that has lots of choreography and back up dancers, I'm pretty sure at least part of the show is recorded, and I'm ok with that. If I go see anyone else, it better be a live performance. What you are paying for is a performance. My range of what is acceptable in that performance is pretty wide.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

This is a very fair take.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Exactly this. Tons of people can sing and play instruments incredibly well. What an audience wants to see live is that turned into a show, which is much more difficult.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I still listen to Milli Vanilli songs occasionally, so good.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

girl you know it, girl you know it, girl you know it

by Anonymous 1 year ago

🤣

by Anonymous 1 year ago

🎵 "Blame it on the rain, yeah, yeah" 🎵

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I mean, it's from the guy behind Boney M so it's not like the music bad

by Anonymous 1 year ago

You know, it's true

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Bros never heard of a backtrack before. There's a difference between lip syncing and having a vocal (or even instrumental) backing track

by Anonymous 1 year ago

In an arena or large setting, or something that's going to be televised in any way, you need a "tv track" or backing track or else nobody is going to hear anything over the crowd/it won't be a very good recording if televised. It's like everything except the main vocals/maybe a very light version of the lead vocals. Some instances where a video will leak and people cry out about lip syncing, it's a tv track. The artist was probably also singing with it. It kindof depends though. Some people do lip sync and just have the full song on 😅 it can be hard to tell at times. Just something to consider before getting too upset.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Not an unpopular opinion, just a wildly uniformed one. As others have pointed out, the controversy with Milli Vanilli was that they weren't even singing the songs ON THE ALBUM. They were complete frauds.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

THANK YOU!!! Not an unpopular opinion at all. Surprised I had to scroll down so far to see if anyone called it out.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If you lip sync while standing there like Adelle, yes. If you lip sync while dancing like Beyonce, I don't blame you. You'd be out of breath too

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Beyoncé actually doesn't lip sync. Just saw her a few weeks ago, all live vocals.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I remember reading something years ago about how she runs and does intense workouts in the sand at the beach while singing in order to train for her concerts. Insane!

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Yup. She also used to run on a treadmill and sing at the same time as part of her training (5km per run). I'm not a massive stan of hers, but her voice during her live shows is so impressive. Not many others could do it.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Never dove into her solo music or watched performances but I admire the talent and work ethic, and she has a great voice. Liked her performance on Echoes with travis

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I'm not a big fan either, but that is so impressive. Even just talking while running, you can hear the "jumps" in your breath and voice. It takes so much control to breathe correctly for the song and not have your voice affected while dancing - especially jumping type things that tend to force air out when you land. I used to dance and it's a totally different type of breathing to singing. Training to sing well on a treadmill shows how dedicated she is to putting on a good performance for her fans.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

billie eilish literally does sing at her concerts-?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Why is Billie Eilish on this list? Girl can sing

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Some artists are more than singers...they are PERFORMERS who are also busting serious dance moves. Go ahead and try to do all that AND sing for an entire show.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

People with great talent CAN do that. I think that's the point op it's making. Michael Jackson, Elvis etc

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Tina Turner did it until she retired at age 69.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Michael Jackson did not sing live the whole show. There are some live videos and you can hear when it switches from a clean studio recording to an out of breath live mic and back to recordings

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Do you think Michael Jackson was singing live during his shows?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Sometimes artists have no choice but to lip-sync. I'm not making excuses for those that don't know how to perform and just lip-sync for most of their shows but there are times where really good performers/singers have no choice but to lip-sync. It might be due to weather or maybe they're contractually required to do it, possibly a sound issue. but the point is that there are many instances where an artist HAS to lip-sync.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

The difference is Milli Vanilli didn't even sing for the backing track. Like it or not there's a difference between using a backing track and completely faking it. Here's a hint: even in the 90s bands used backing tracks.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

>There are plenty of amazing artists that don't even get near this level of fame that can actually sing on stage, also without auto tuned mics. Its not just singing. Its the ability to perform and be entertaining. But no one automatically deserves fame, so those amazing artists just need to keep working at it.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Tolmbout that stripper that drugs and steals too much?

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Depends. Michael Jackson lip sang towards the middle and end of his career. But I'd still kill to see him live because he put on Incredible performances. His dances, stage theatrics, etc were something to behold. The examples you gave aren't anywhere near as talented or a spectacle to go see.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

One of the guys committed suicide over the shame of it

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I mean it fully depends on the artist and their performance. If you're gonna be like Pink and be up there spinning flipping dancing twirling doing full choreography and a one man circus, then yeah, you might have to lipsync. I would be crazy to expect you to do all that and sing at the same time. (And yet I think she does sing live which is wild) But if you're gonna be like Morgan wallen and just stand there with a guitar, you have zero excuse not to be singing live.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

It's not that deep bro

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I'm not into K-pop at all, and I have no idea if they lip sync but one thing I appreciate about it is that if you ever see a video of their performances it is clear they put in WORK. Fast paced choreography that lasts for an entire concert. Then you watch any American artist right now and some of them dance a little but it seems like most just walk around on stage while they Sing.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Why did you list 3 artists who don't lip-sync

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If they're artists who still make their own music and lip sync at lice performances to create an element of consistency on long tours, there's not really an issue. They're still making the music, even if they don't vocalize it every single time. Milli Vanilli wasn't even making their own music, though. *They* were the hacks. An artist who sells a picture of their own painting still painted the painting.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Billie Eilish? A talentless hack? That's a wild take.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

The singing is combined with dancing, which is aerobic. So, they're out of breath to be able to belt it out like the album. That's why they do it.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

This is coming from someone who's never had to perform a show in their life. Imagine running, jumping, singing, and dancing for a massive crowd for multiple hours straight. Yea, I'm ok with backing tracks. I'm her for a performance. If I wanted the song perfect I'd stay in the car.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I'm legit okay if a performer lip-syncs on stage... if they're giving me a SHOW. If they're just standing there hugging the mic stand, I'd want a refund.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I agree with the sentiment. I'm not really a Billie Eilish fan, but she is absolutely talented. If you haven't seen her tiny desk, you should watch it. She absolutely can sing, I think overproduction and vocal filters are a big thing right now, especially vocal layering. I'm not really a fan of any of them most of the time but when some of these artists do stripped back performances, you can see how talented they are.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Michael Jackson lip synced later in his career live. Does that make his [later] career not acceptable? I'm not the biggest MJ fan but you can't deny his impact and the complete spectacles his shows where

by Anonymous 1 year ago

This is the same as people that comdemn artists/bands for using a click track. 99% of the time, its somebody that doesn't understand music and/or live performances acting like they know what they're talking about. If you've never played live music in front of thousands of people: 1. Lip syncing isn't as common as you think it is. 2. Click tracks aren't a cheat, they're a tool. 3. Auto tune isn't a cheat, its a tool.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Gonna let you in on a little secret here: if you've seen any band or artist signed to a major label in the last 20 years, there's an extremely good chance that they're using a backing track to fall back on if not just miming the entire performance. WB is notorious for pushing it on their artists. They don't want to take the chance of a bad performance. Pop artists do it, metal bands do it, country, rock, hip hop, genre doesn't matter. That doesn't mean those artists can't perform, it's typically them on the recording, it's just a measure of consistency imposed by a label usually. The Milli Vanilli situation was due to it not even being them performing on the record.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Can you imagine being the artist lip syncing? Like, how could performing shows even be fun?! Playing live is what it's all about, but there are tons of phony artists out there in this digital world we live in. Talent is few and far in between where it seems to be all about catchy hooks, beats, and choruses. Couldn't agree more with this unpopular opinion.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

If this was the case then a lot of artists wouldn't be around and I mean a lot.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

👴🏻👴🏻👴🏻👴🏻

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Selena Gomez too

by Anonymous 1 year ago

A lot of artists lip sync. Many have pre-recorded live vocals that they lip sync to. Some of them are talented vocalists, Celine Dion being one of them. She had vocal tracks for certain songs and sang others live. She absolutely could sing her tracked songs live and did on many occasions so talent isn't always the reason.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

The Beatles live performances proved to everybody that the fans goes to a show to *see* the artist and not to hear them. But I agree with you.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

The vast majority of music listeners do not have high standards. Cardi B fans do not care that Cardi B lip syncs live, they're there for the experience of seeing Cardi B. Think about who popular musicians are, and realize that you might be in the minority of music listeners

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Sometimes, lip syncing is justified. If the artist is doing a complex dance sequence, I could understand them lip syncing that part. However, you are correct in that people are stupidly supporting untalented people with ticket sales, song purchases and merch when the singer in question cannot actually sing at all, nor do they try to. Most of these "artists" just stand there or jump on the spot. Not to mention many of them show up hours late to their own shows.

by Anonymous 1 year ago

I agree. I pay money for the band to perform. If they're gonna lip sync etc it people should be told about it before they buy the ticket and the tickets should be much much cheaper

by Anonymous 1 year ago

Outside of hardcore music fans nobody cares bro...

by Anonymous 1 year ago