Milli Vanilli

{link » Quartet pre-recorded Obama music}

“‘This isn't a matter of Milli Vanilli’, [a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies] added, referring to a pop band that was stripped of a Grammy music award in 1989 because the duo did not sing on their album and lip-synched in concerts.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman said ‘It would have been a disaster if we had done it any other way’.

Yo-Yo Ma added: ‘A broken string was not an option. It was wicked cold’.

All the other musical performances during the ceremony were live, although Aretha Franklin was accompanied by taped music and additional voices.”

The additional voices were provided by Milli Vanilli, comfortably warm inside Ms. Franklin's hat.