Reba McEntire Doesn’t Think Garth Brooks is Very Good at Lip-Synching
When country icon and singer, Garth Brooks, was caught lip-synching for a CMA Awards performance, other stars and fans were divided on the issue of whether it was okay. Even Brooks’ friend, Reba McEntire, commented he wasn’t “that good” at mouthing along to his own song. But did she agree with other country stars who said he wasn’t being honest?
Garth Brooks lip-synched at the 2017 CMA Awards
In 2017, Brooks chose to not sing live during a performance at the CMA Awards. He admitted to the decision backstage at the show, noting he was in the middle of performing 12 live shows in 10 days and was losing vocal quality.
As Brooks explained to press following his performance, his concern was doing his best where his fans paid for tickets. So, he decided it was better to lip-synch for the awards show than risk losing his voice during a show people paid to see.
But stars like Eric Church were “pissed off” per Rolling Stone, noting Brooks was awarded Entertainer of the Year. “So the winner of the biggest category of the night lip-synced in the biggest moment on the show? F*** that!” Church opined. “And I didn’t like his excuse at all.”
Notably, Church was also an Entertainer of the Year nominee in 2017. But he wasn’t the only country star who expressed displeasure. Anderson East told Instagram he was “truly offended,” per People. And his then-girlfriend, Miranda Lambert, jumped in the comments to call Brooks’ performance decision “bulls***.”
“If you can’t sing then don’t,” she remarked. “It’s better to be honest than to pretend.”
Garth Brooks is the ‘hardest working man’ Reba McEntire has ‘ever seen in her life’
When asked about Brooks’ performance by Access Hollywood Live, McEntire defended the “Friends in Low Places” singer — also her friend. She noted how she heard he performed five shows in 50 hours and said, “He’s the hardest working man I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Furthermore, she guessed Brooks didn’t want to let his fans down by canceling and noted, “He showed up!”
As for his lip-synching abilities, McEntire hilariously remarked, “He’s not that good at it, so you know he doesn’t do it very often.”
And when the hosts pointed out Lambert’s opinion of Brooks’ performance, McEntire seemingly shrugged it off. “I’m not gonna criticize Garth at all,” she declared while shaking her head. “I can’t out-work him. And I’m a hardworking person!”
She concluded her thoughts on the situation with, “Kudos for him.”
Garth Brooks removed himself from the CMA Award Entertainer of the Year contest in 2020
Having been named the CMA Awards’ Entertainer of the Year seven times and winning in 2016, 2017, and 2019, Brooks made the decision to remove himself from the contest in 2020. He said he’d listened to Twitter and didn’t want to be nominated anymore following backlash over his previous wins.
Though he expressed his gratitude for the nomination, he agreed it was time for a new generation to win. “It’s time for somebody else to hold the award,” he concluded per Billboard.
While a major complaint about Brooks’ wins was a lack of female representation, Church took the award home in 2020.
