Macy's Thanksgiving Parade 2025: Do singers have to lip sync every year?

Published on: Nov 28, 2025 12:15 am IST

Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade celebrates 99 years with a lineup of 28 performers, including Cynthia Erivo and Busta Rhymes, though lip-syncing is a common practice

Every year, Americans are delighted with a lineup of balloons, floats, marches, and musical performances at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. This year marks the 99th edition of the annual event, which debuted in 1924. Hundreds of artists have since performed at the holiday tradition, including Broadway stars. The 2025 lineup includes 28 performers, some of whom are Cynthia Erivo, Callum Scott, Busta Rhymes, and Ciara.

Ciara participates in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, U.S., November 27, 2025(REUTERS)

Do performers lip-sync at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade?

While the performances captivate both crowds and at-home viewers, they are not necessarily done in real-time. In 2018, fans were taken aback when Rita Ora was seen visibly lip-syncing. At the time, John Legend came to her defence, explaining to fans that many performers choose to pre-record their vocals due to the challenges they face during the parade.

“We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don’t have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance. Hope y’all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live!” Legend wrote on X.

Ora responded to the All of Me hitmaker’s post, writing, “Fun fact @johnlegend thank you for clarifying what I was about to also tweet. It’s annoying for us but anyway! All my shows are 100 percent live always have been! When you come to a ORA show get ready!”

However, Kelly Clarkson refuted the claims that all artists lip-sync during the parade. The Stronger singer wrote on Instagram at the time, “Umm, I don’t know if y’all know this, but that was live! Brynn Cartelli, thank you — singing in this cold weather with me. It’s so cold in New York.”

“I just wanted y’all to know, you probably all thought that sounded so good from Brynn Cartelli, but that was live, as well,” she went on. “So Brynn Cartelli’s just rocking those runs this morning. I didn’t even give those runs this morning. I was like, nope! Anyway, happy Thanksgiving, y’all!” Clarkson added, per E! News. Hence, artists are not required to lip-sync; it is their choice whether they wish to pre-record their vocals.