has apologised to fans for lip-synching during Tuesday’s Concert for after the star revealed she lost her voice hours before the live event.
saw the likes of , Camila Cabello, , and many more take to the stage in a bid to raise money for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) humanitarian appeal for Ukrainians amid ’s invasion.
The Read All About It singer, 35, performed her single Brighter Days, however, fans questioned whether she was actually singing.
Addressing the growing speculation on Twitter, Emeli confirmed in a video message that she was miming the song because she lost her voice, but stressed how ‘important’ it was for her to perform.
‘I really wanted to sing but I woke up the day of the concert and my voice was like this,’ she croaked.
‘It was really annoying because the day before I was singing Mariah totally fine and I had to make a very difficult decision. “Do I pull out of the concert which I really don’t want to do or do I lip sync to the track?”‘
She continued: ‘I chose to lip sync. I’ve never done it in my career before and I never want to do it again. For me it was more important to perform the song and that the message of the song came through.
‘I apologise to everyone who noticed that it was a lip-sync. I promise that it will never happen again, but I hope that the message of the song still came through.’
Fans praised Emeli’s admission and wished her a speedy recovery.
‘Don’t worry, we know you can sing beautiful so we gathered you would be miming for a reason. It’s no Biggie, get well soon and thank you for helping to raise much needed funds xx,’ one person wrote.
‘Please don’t apologise. The song was incredibly well suited to the occasion and I’m sure it inspired a much needed sense of hope in the hearts of everyone that tuned in. Praying you get better soon,’ another added.
Viewers of last night’s Concert For Ukraine – which was hosted by Roman Kemp, Marvin Humes, and Emma Bunton – were left moved by ’s performance.
Jamala, who was forced to flee her home in Ukraine two weeks ago, took to the stage to perform a moving rendition of 1944, the song which won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016.
Multi-award-winning singer to perform in person, however, the duo sent a message via video link that showed their allegiance to the besieged country.
‘We are so sorry that we can’t be there tonight,’ said the Bad Guy hitmaker.
‘But we still wanted to offer all of our love and support to everyone performing and most importantly to express the support and solidarity with the millions of people who’ve been forced to flee their homes and leave everything behind.’
The show raised an impressive £13.4million in donations towards the relief effort.
Concert for Ukraine is available to watch on ITV Hub.
