Muse Refuse
Muse were reportedly told they had to lip sync and mime their performance of the new single “Uprising” for the Italian TV show “Quelli che il calcio show”. Rather than meet the demand, the members switched places and phoned in their fake performance.
Lead singer and guitarist, Matthew Bellamy, decided to pretend to play the drums with an offbeat rhythm and many missed beats to point at the camera and wave his sticks overhead. Real drummer, Dominic Howard, took on duties of lip-syncing the lead vocals and pretending to play lead guitar.
They continued the farse in the interview that followed, with Howard making an obvious reference to “our drummer Matt”.
If the host noticed the ruse she did not let on – the band left the stage with the studio and television audience apparently unaware that they had been duped.
(Based on a music wire release.)