Motörhead's Mikkey Dee says lip-syncing "sucks big time", but backing tracks are acceptable if used in a "proper way"

Mikkey Dee of Motorhead
(Image credit: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)

Mikkey Dee has offered his thoughts on the recent discussion surrounding the use of backing tracks at live shows. 

While such methods are commonly associated with pop artists, in recent years, more and more rock acts have been relying on pre-recorded material to artificially strengthen their live performances. This has led to some debate across the scene on whether the incorporation of backing tracks is appropriate in a genre typically revered for the technical ability of its musicians. 

Recently, Kiss frontman Paul Stanley was accused of lip-syncing on the band's ongoing End Of The Road farewell tour, after struggling with a decreasing vocal range over the last few years.

You may like

The Motörhead drummer offers his take on the discussion via a Cameo video message requested by the Syncin' Stanley YouTube channel, stating that he's thoroughly against lip-syncing in a live capacity, although thinks that backing tracks are "acceptable" if used "properly".

"Lip-syncing sucks big time. I hate it. That's not fun at all," he says, (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). "But when it comes to backing tracks, sometimes it's not too bad if you use it in a proper way.

"Let's say, you could have a rhythm guitar as a backtrack in certain solos. We never had it with Motörhead, ever. And I know a lot of bands that wanna fill up certain parts of a song with some backing tracks — maybe a guitar, a rhythm guitar usually, or maybe some kind of keyboard or something — just to fill up spaces where it's impossible to play.

"And if you recorded something and you dubbed something on there, some little theme or something, I think that's okay; that's not too bad. I can live with that, as long as the rest of the song is being played properly. But lip-syncing — absolutely no. And backing tracks, if you use them properly; if you use them, I would say the way they were intended. But a lot of bands might use backing tracks for the whole musical part of it. And trust me, I hate that — absolutely terrible."

Of what the late Motörhead frontman Lemmy would think of the method if he were still alive, Dee continues, "Lemmy had the same kind of view, I guess, as me, because we never used backing tracks. But sometimes it could have been okay to do it because it maybe got too thin in certain kinds of solo or something because we were only three [members in Motörhead]. So he didn't like it. He would never do it. But he could see bands that used it in a proper way, in a good way. 

"Then I think it's acceptable, and then it's all right. But I don't think he would like it. He would be mostly against it. I think it's okay here, and there, as I said, in the case of… depending on what kind of song they needed to work on, to fill up, as I said, a solo, a B section, maybe a theme in a solo — I mean, in a chorus — also play something like that. But the song needs to be played by the band, and the band only, live. That's my view on it."

Liz Scarlett

Liz works on keeping the Louder sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.

Read more
Mikkey Dee in 2015
“Another day and I’d be playing drums with Lemmy in Heaven”: Scorpions and former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee was hospitalised with sepsis last month
Gene Simmons of Kiss
Kiss' Gene Simmons says there are no more big rock bands: "They don't exist. Name one, if you can think"
Metallica with Dave Lombardo on drums in 2004
“I sped everything up a little bit, just kicked them in the *** a little”: Dave Lombardo looks back on the day he drummed in Metallica
Serena Cherry smiling on stage
I front a metal band and this is what it's like having hundreds of phones pointed at you every night on stage (spoiler: it's really weird)
Tommy Lee
"Right now nobody gives a flying **** when your record drops or the next concert is!" Motley Crue's Tommy Lee isn't impressed by tone-deaf musicians self-promoting while Los Angeles is burning, but there's a plot twist
Rush posing for a photo in 2007
Rush got emails "from all kinds of drummers" minutes after the death of Neil Peart
Latest in
Queen posing for a photograph in 1978
"Freddie’s ideas were off the wall and cheeky and different, and we tended to encourage them, but sometimes they were not brilliant.” Queen's Brian May reveals one of Freddie Mercury's grand ideas that got vetoed by the rest of the band
Mogwai
“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Latest in News
Queen posing for a photograph in 1978
"Freddie’s ideas were off the wall and cheeky and different, and we tended to encourage them, but sometimes they were not brilliant.” Queen's Brian May reveals one of Freddie Mercury's grand ideas that got vetoed by the rest of the band
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Lizzo and Sister Rosetta Tharpe onstage
"This is my baby, my passion – because Rosetta deserves": Lizzo to play rock'n'roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in upcoming biopic