Garth Brooks has admitted he lip synced his performance at the CMA (Country Music Association) Awards on Wednesday night.
The 55-year-old singer was just one of the winners at the ceremony, which was also televised, taking home the top award for Entertainer of the Year. However, Garth attracted criticism from fans when he performed his track Ask Me How I Know, with many slamming him for clearly not performing live.
“Really, @garthbrooks…. 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. #CMAS #CMAawards #GarthBrooks #Garth #Nashville,” one wrote.
Another tweeted, “Garth Brooks is REALLY bad at lip syncing”, while a third posted, “Worst lip syncing I’ve ever seen. #GarthBrooks #CMAawards.”
Speaking to journalists backstage after his performance, Garth admitted he had used a pre-recorded live track to lip sync to, citing sickness and his 12 show run in just 10 days as the reason he made the compromise.
“Right now we’re in the middle of 12 shows in 10 days,” he told Fox News “We’ve got four days (where) we’re doing two shows a day. We decided to lip sync it because my voice just isn’t going anywhere, and we wanted to represent country music the best we can.”
Garth’s Entertainer of the Year win was the second consecutive year he’s taken home the award, and his sixth win of the gong overall. Reba McEntire presented him with this year’s honour, with Garth acknowledging her and the rest of his country music “family” during his acceptance speech.
“Getting this presented to me by the entertainer of a lifetime, I thank you,” he said. “Miranda (Lambert) said it best, Little Big Town said it best – we’re a family. All you guys down here on the front row: We can all agree on one thing. Let’s all raise a toast… to the band and crew. I was talking to Kelsea (Ballerini) backstage about how we get to do this for a living. The most important thing other than God… is you (fans). I love you guys. We’re a family.”
