Aretha Franklin
The queen of soul said she 'really laughed' when she learned that Beyoncé per-recorded her rendition of "Star Spangled Banner" at President Obama’s second Inauguration, but feels is was still done beautifully. Reuters

Queen of soul Aretha Franklin said that she was amused at learning that Beyoncé lip-synced her rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" at President Obama’s second inauguration.

Franklin sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” live at the 2009 presidential inauguration.

Many have speculated that the cold weather is the reason Beyoncé decided to pre-record her performance. Franklin told ABC News that she understood why Beyoncé may have hastily decided to lip-sync her performance and feels the pre-record was done beautifully.

"But, when I heard the news this evening that she was pre-recorded I really laughed. I thought it was funny because the weather down there was about 46 or 44 degrees and for most singers that is just not good singing weather," she told ABC News.

"When I heard that I just really cracked up. I thought it was really funny, but she did a beautiful job with the pre-record ... next time I'll probably do the same."

It was around 40 degrees at the time of Monday's inauguration. It was nearly twice as cold, according to the 70-year-old legend, when she performed at the inauguration four years ago. While she opted to sing live, she said deciding whether or not to pre-record a performance is ultimately up to the performer.

She admitted that she once lip-synced "The Star-Spangled Banner" when she performed before the Detroit Pistons took on the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals in June of 2004.

“I think it’s optional really, it’s up to the artist,” Franklin said. “In 2009, I wanted everything to be live and on the real side for the moment as it actually happened. Those were my feelings for my performance, but having come face to face with 28, 22 degrees I am not surprised she pre-recorded. She wanted her performance to be what she wanted to be and she realized it wasn’t going to be the way she wanted it to be or she was going to be running a risk. That’s probably why she pre-recorded exactly how she wanted it to be heard.”

Franklin noted she was not completely pleased with the outcome of her performance; having to sit outside for almost 45 minutes before singer affected the integrity of her voice, the diva detailed.

“I just wished I could have sung the moment I got there,” she said. “If I could have walked on immediately and sung it wouldn’t have affected my voice the way it did.”

Nevertheless, Franklin was adamant about giving the audience an authentic experience.

“I wanted to give people the real thing and pre-recording never crossed my mind,” she said.

Franklin added that she also enjoyed Kelly Clarkson’s rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” that she sung live, as well as James Taylor’s performance, adding that she was moved by the entire ceremony.

“I enjoyed every minute,” she told ABC News. “From the beginning to the end, I was crying throughout the ceremony at different times,” Franklin said. “Looking at the history of the president coming to the point he came to, looking to where it came from the Civil Rights movement to yesterday and I think most of the country was crying.”