Aretha Laughed at Beyoncé

Aretha Franklin weighed in Wednesday on the lip-sync (ironically) heard round the world, saying she “really laughed” when she heard the news that Beyoncé’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Monday’s inauguration was prerecorded. “I thought it was funny, because the weather down there was about 46 or 44 degrees, and for most singers that is just not good singing weather,” the Queen of Soul said. She added—some think rather cattily—that when she performed at the 2009 inauguration, she sang live, because she “wanted to give people the real thing, and prerecording never crossed my mind.” But, you know, Beyoncé “did a beautiful job with the prerecord.”