Last Tuesday (April 21), Howard Stern played on his Sirius radio show what he claimed to be an unedited sound board recording of Beyoncé, 27, performing If I Were a Boy on the Today show in November last year. At times, she sounded totally out of tune. The controversial recording had the shock jock questioning whether the Single Ladies singer can sing.
"I haven't heard it but it sounds completely ridiculous," Beyoncé told MTV on Wednesday, while at the junket for her new thriller Obsessed. "Everyone's heard me sing and it's perfect timing!” she said, adding that this is actually a perfect promotion, thanking “whoever came up with that idea."
The unnamed prankster who made the tape later told TMZ.com: "It's a little bit crazy. No one in their right mind would sound like that, and no one would cheer for someone singing like that."
But Mathew Knowles, the singer’s father and manager, didn’t think this was funny. "If no one took the time to look at the biggest Inauguration in the history of America then shame on them," he said in a statement. "If no one took the time to listen to Beyoncé sing 'America the Beautiful' and 'At Last' at the Neighborhood Ball for the first dance of President Obama and the First Lady, and they question Beyoncé's vocal ability, they've gotta be an idiot," he added.
Then he continued: "At 12 years into her career, the last thing someone should be questioning is her vocal ability. That would be like questioning if Kobe Bryant could shoot a jump shot. The vocals were obviously altered."
