Do New Year's Eve Performers Lip Sync on New Year's Rockin' Eve? An Expert Explains What Happens During Some Live Events

As you’re watching performers take the stage during the 2025 New Year’s Eve telecasts, you may be wondering…are the performers singing live or do they lip sync?

Well, we cannot say for sure what every individual artist decides to do, but an expert in the field is revealing what sometimes happens during big performances.

Keep reading to find out more…

Bryan Walters, who’s produced performances for MTV, explained that “at a live public performance, where there’s a lot of ambient noise, it’s standard practice for singers to sing along with a prerecorded guide vocal.” This is not the same as totally lip syncing, where there’s no live singing happening from the performer.

Bryan explained, “When you’re singing to a track you’re laying down a real vocal on top of the recorded one.”

If a singer stops singing alongside their guide track, viewers would still be able to hear the performers vocals in the background.

“If a singer is doing a great job, the audio mixer can fade down the guide vocal. If the singer’s struggling, the mixer can help her by bringing her voice down and the guide vocal up.”

To add to this, sometimes performers will allegedly “prerecord new, intentionally rougher vocals” to make it sound live!

“That way there’s a nice live graininess to the vocal and not the perfectly polished studio sound,” Bryan added.

The New Year’s Eve lip syncing conversation became a big topic back in 2017 when Mariah Carey performed.