The audience never knew. The crowd never knew. Fans were blowing up Facebook and Twitter describing the beauty of Beyonce’s voice.

Beyoncé did not sing the national anthem live at President Obama’s inauguration.

Millions of viewers around the world were stunned by the singer’s spectacular rendition of the anthem but The Times has learnt that she was lip-syncing to a pre-recorded backing track.

A spokeswoman for the Marine Corp Band Kristen DuBois said it was standard procedure to record a backing track and Beyoncé decided shortly before her performance to rely on the studio version father than risking singing it live on the Capitol. Read more