Beyonce described herself as a "perfectionist" and an artist who will "practice until my fleet bleed" after admitting to miming during President Barack Obama's inauguration earlier this month. There was no formal apology at the pre-Super Bowl press conference on Thursday, with the R&B superstar instead explaining the logic behind singing along to a backing track. "I practice until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," she said.Due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk," adding, "It was about the president and the inauguration, and I wanted to make him and my country proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I'm very proud of my performance."

As if to dispel any lingering doubts about her ability to sing live (were there ever really any?) Beyonce had opened the news conference in New Orleans with a live rendition of the national anthem. After belting out her version of The Star Spangled Banner, Beyonce asked the waiting journalists, "any questions?"

The superstar hadn't spoken publically about the lip-syncing since the inauguration, when a representative from the US Marine Band said she wasn't singing live and hadn't rehearsed with them.