President Trump isn't the only one lighting up Twitter after Wednesday's CMA Awards.
Garth Brooks, who picked up the ceremony's top award for entertainer of the year, was criticized by country music fans on social media for lip-syncing during his performance of Ask Me How I Know, which is taken from his latest album Gunslinger.
Talking to journalists after the show, the icon admitted to using a prerecorded live track, explaining that he was sick, and in the midst of playing 12 shows in 10 days.
"We made a game-time call on whether to sing to a track or lip-sync," Brooks said. "And we decided to lip-sync it.
"My voice just isn't going anywhere, and we wanted to represent country music the best we can," he added.
Many fans expressed their disappointment in Brooks, a six-time CMA entertainer of the year, during Wednesday's telecast. "Garth Brooks is lip-syncing. Not what entertainers of the year do," one Twitter user wrote. Others called it "terrible" and said that it "looks very bad on a legend."
Worst lip syncing I’ve ever seen. #GarthBrooks #CMAawards
— Chelsey Dequaine (@ChelseyDequaine) November 9, 2017
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
— Theresa Pittius (@TheresaPittius) November 9, 2017
You can see the performance for yourself in these clips from the CMAs.
@garthbrooks My heart is broken - how could you lip sync? #CMAawards pic.twitter.com/snnqlGCUbd
— Tanya Vitale (@crazynbella) November 9, 2017
Loving this performance by reigning #CMAawards Entertainer of the Year @GarthBrooks! pic.twitter.com/15QXawypfK
— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 9, 2017
Brooks, 55, previously discussed the possibility of lip-syncing at awards shows in 2015, telling SiriusXM that he had prerecorded a live version of All-American Kid ahead of the Academy of Country Music Awards as a precaution, in case his voice wasn't in fighting shape.
"It's going to come right down to the wire because I didn't think I had a voice at the (Lifting Lives) gala last night ... so we'll see how it goes," Brooks said. "Either way, the track's not going to be perfect. For one, I can't do perfect, it's just not in my DNA. The track, even if we're lip-syncing, is as live as it gets."
Contributing: Cindy Watts and Dave Paulson in Nashville
