Bad Lip Reading Explained

Bad Lip Reading
Views:1.46 billion
Stats Update:August 17, 2023
Subscribers:8.17 million
Genre:Comedy
Channel Name:BadLipReading
Years Active:2011–present

Bad Lip Reading is a YouTube channel created and run by an anonymous producer who intentionally lip-reads video clips poorly, for comedic effect. Rolling Stone described the channel as "the breakout hit" of the 2012 United States presidential cycle. As of August 2023, the channel had amassed over 8.17 million subscribers and over a billion video views.[1] Some of the channel's original songs are available on Spotify and Apple Music.[2]

History

The "Bad Lip Reader" behind the channel is an anonymous music and video producer from Texas.[3] The first Bad Lip Reading video released was a spoof of Rebecca Black's song "Friday", titled "Gang Fight".[4] New music and lyrics were matched to Black's video to make it appear as though she were singing about gang warfare. The "Gang Fight" YouTube video, released in March 2011, earned BLR a million hits and thousands of subscribers.

More spoof videos followed, including interpretations of The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" (a viral video called "Everybody Poops"); Taylor Swift's "Our Song" ("(Rockin') All Nite Long"); and Michael Bublé's "Haven't Met You Yet". The latter was transformed into the "electronica-inspired" "Russian Unicorn", which Bublé himself praised as his "new favorite song" and "one of the coolest things I've ever seen".

In September 2011, BLR branched out from pop singers to politicians with a "bad lip-reading" of Texas governor and US Presidential hopeful Rick Perry. BLR replaced clips of Perry with invented dialogue matched to his lip movements. After airing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the video was featured by news and media outlets across the United States, leading to a sudden surge in Bad Lip Reading's popularity. Following the Perry spoof, BLR released bad lip-readings of President Obama, Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum.

In November 2012 the channel began overdubbing popular movie and television shows. BLR's version of Twilight quickly went viral, followed by parodies of The Hunger Games; The Walking Dead; and Game of Thrones (such as their song "Carl Poppa".) videos have been well-received not only by the public, but also by the cast and creators of the properties being spoofed. In her online blog, Elizabeth BanksJennifer Lawrence's co-star in The Hunger Games—said, "Bad Lip Reading is awesome. I was introduced to it by none other than Jennifer Lawrence. Yup — she saw this, people. And she laughed. And so did I. A lot."[5] Lawrence's co-star Josh Hutcherson also praised the video, tweeting it to his fans.

In January 2013 BLR released a bad lip reading of National Football League players, coaches, and referees, which became the channel's most popular video. A second NFL video followed in 2014,[6] [7] and a third was released in 2015.[8] The NFL Bad Lip Reading video became an annual event for the channel, with each video being released shortly before the Super Bowl.

In a Rolling Stone interview, the producer behind the Bad Lip Reading videos said that he first encountered the technique of lip reading when his mother, then in her 40s, lost her hearing due to unknown causes. While she excelled at lip reading, he was unable to pick up the skill despite trying: "I was terrible at it."

In 2013, Bad Lip Reading won the Webby Awards' People's Voice Award for "Comedy: Long Form or Series". In April 2014, BLR won the American Comedy Award for Best Viral Video for its "NFL: A Bad Lip Reading" video. Patrick Stewart accepted the award on BLR's behalf during the televised ceremony on NBC.

On June 8, 2014 the BLR Facebook page announced the release of the full version of "Modify" by Kniles, a song that has been used in multiple BLR productions. The fact that this song was used without previous attribution, as well as stylistic similarities to other BLR-produced songs, have prompted speculation that Kniles is another pseudonym for the individual behind Bad Lip Reading.[9]

In December 2015, Bad Lip Reading simultaneously released three new videos, one for each of the three films in the original Star Wars trilogy. These videos used guest voices for the first time, featuring Jack Black as Darth Vader, Maya Rudolph as Princess Leia, and Bill Hader in multiple roles.[10] The Empire Strikes Back BLR video featured a scene of Yoda singing to Luke Skywalker about an unfortunate encounter with a seagull on the beach. BLR later expanded this scene into a full-length stand-alone song called "Seagulls! (Stop It Now)", which was released in November 2016 (eventually hitting #1 on the Billboard Comedy Digital Tracks chart.[11]) As of December 2018, the video for "Seagulls! (Stop It Now)" is Bad Lip Reading's most viewed YouTube upload and most popular musical production. In the song, Yoda sings to Luke Skywalker about the dangers posed by vicious seagulls if one dares to go to the beach. Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films, publicly praised "Seagulls!" (and Bad Lip Reading in general) while speaking at Star Wars Celebration in 2017: "I love them, and I showed Carrie [Fisher] the Yoda one... we were dying. I showed it to her in her trailer. She loved it. I retweeted it... and [BLR] contacted me and said ‘Do you want to do Bad Lip Reading?’ And I said, ‘I'd love to...’”. Hamill and Bad Lip Reading collaborated on Bad Lip Reading's version of The Force Awakens, with Hamill providing the voice of Han Solo.[12] As of July 16, 2020, the video has more than 111 million views.

The Star Wars Trilogy Bad Lip Reading videos led to a second musical number, "Bushes of Love", which featured Ben Kenobi singing to Luke Skywalker about the perils of love. The song hit #2 on the Billboard Comedy Digital Tracks chart.[13] Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda described the song as "THE summer jam of 2017".[14]

A Bad Lip Reading of the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical premiered as a half-hour special on July 11, 2016 on Disney XD. Similarly, a half-hour Bad Lip Reading version of Descendants aired on November 18, 2017.

In January 2017, BLR released a Bad Lip Reading of Donald Trump's inauguration, which quickly went viral, amassing over 36 million views in 2017 alone. YouTube ranked the video at #7 on its list of the Top Ten Trending Videos of 2017.[15]

In May 2018, BLR released "Royal Wedding", a Bad Lip Reading of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The video quickly went viral, amassing millions of hits. When YouTube revealed the top trending videos of 2018, "Royal Wedding" ranked third in the UK, just behind the actual wedding itself.

In March 2019, BLR released "Chocolate Lagoon", a Bad Lip Reading of the live performance of "Shallow" by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony.[16] [17] On Christmas Day, 25 December 2019, they released another Star Wars-themed music video, "My Stick", which is a sequel to "Seagulls! (Stop It Now)".

In July 2022, BLR released a five-part interpretation of the musical Hamilton.[18] Re-imagined as "Axe-Assassin Albertson", the project revolves around a post-apocalyptic backstory in which an Artificial Intelligence in the year 2122 attempts to restore the missing soundtrack to Hamilton by analyzing the lips of the performers. In addition to replacing several of the production's musical numbers with original songs featuring nonsensical lyrics, many songs were transformed into spoken word dialogue scenes. Upon its release, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda shared the video with his fans: "Thanks @badlipreading. You've made my life."[19] Bad Lip Reading himself tweeted that the project was begun as a way of personally coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.[20] An accompanying 10-song Axe-Assassin Albertson album was released on July 17, 2022, featuring full-length versions of all the songs heard in the video series.

Copyright issues

One of Bad Lip Reading's works, "Dirty Spaceman", a redubbing of "Check It Out" by Will.i.am featuring Nicki Minaj, was taken down due to a claim of copyright infringement. It is unclear whether Universal Music issued a formal DMCA takedown request or else YouTube's Content ID Match system detected the work and removed it automatically.[21]

In March 2012, the video "Beard With Glue", a bad lip reading of "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt, was taken down by Warner Music Group on a copyright claim. Unlike "Dirty Spaceman", the claim was soon released, however, and the video was returned in October 2011.[22] "Gang Fight" had been similarly taken down the previous year, in 2011, but returned. UMG has also taken down "(Rockin') All Nite Long", the Taylor Swift spoof that features Wiz Khalifa. BLR's parody of "Hot Problems", "Time to Rock", was also taken down, but later returned.

BLR did a redubbing of "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 called "Haiku", released on 12 October 2018, but the video was taken down later the same day.

Another bad lip reading of "You Need To Calm Down" by Taylor Swift, "Lushfull", was taken down in June 2019.

Videos

Based on songs

Artist Featuring Original song(s) Release date(s) BLR song Upload date
"Friday" Mar 14, 2011 "Gang Fight" Mar 21, 2011
"That Should Be Me" Mar 19, 2010 "Asian Baby" Mar 24, 2011
"Boom Boom Pow" Mar 30, 2009 "Everybody Poops" Mar 29, 2011
"Party in the U.S.A.", "Boom" Aug 11, 2009; Mar 8, 2011 "Black Umbrella (The Right Stuff)" Apr 7, 2011
"My Chick Bad", "Too Much Heaven" Feb 23, 2010; Oct 24, 1978 "Magic Man" Apr 18, 2011
"That Should Be Me" Mar 19, 2010 "Hot Jumping Beans" May 1, 2011
"Our Song" Aug 22, 2007 "(Rockin') All Nite Long" May 29, 2011
"Haven't Met You Yet" Aug 31, 2009 "Russian Unicorn" Jul 11, 2011
"The Lazy Song", "Alejandro", "Empire State of Mind", "Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)" Feb 15, 2011; Apr 20, 2010; Oct 20, 2009; Dec 14, 1999 "Morning Dew" Aug 8, 2011
N/A N/A "Trick the Bridesmaid" Sept 19, 2011
"Check It Out" Sept 3, 2010 "Dirty Spaceman" Oct 1, 2011
"You're Beautiful" May 30, 2005 "Beard With Glue" Oct 28, 2011
"Somebody That I Used to Know" Jul 5, 2011 "Kicked Your Monkey" May 3, 2012
"Hot Problems" Apr 15, 2012 "Time to Rock" May 16, 2012
"In My Place" Aug 5, 2002 "Yeti" Jul 24, 2012
"Gotta Be You" Nov 11, 2011 "SHADOW PICO Trailer" Dec 27, 2012
"The Star-Spangled Banner" Jan 21, 2013 "La Fway" Jan 26, 2013
The Walking Dead castN/AN/A"La Bibbida-Bibbi-Dum (On Broadway)"May 20, 2013
N/A N/A "Carl Poppa" Oct 2, 2014
Obsidiots (Katniss Everdeen & Peeta Mellark) N/A N/A Obsidiots: Live From District 11
Song Title: "Choo Choo Go"
Nov 27, 2014
N/A N/A "Bushes of Love" Jan 1, 2016
N/A N/A N/A "Not The Future" Feb 9, 2016
"Can't Let Go" 1998 "SEAGULLS! (Stop It Now)" Nov 25, 2016
N/A N/A "Hostiles on the Hill" Dec 18, 2017
Donald TrumpMelania TrumpN/AN/A"Christmas Is Here!"Dec 27, 2017
Donald Trump "The Star-Spangled Banner" Jan 8, 2018 "Trump Anthem" Jan 9, 2018
N/A N/A "It's Not A Moon" Mar 12, 2018
"The Star-Spangled Banner" Feb 18, 2018 "Nobody Wants My Bread" Jul 4, 2018
"Idol" Aug 24, 2018 "Sample of My Pasta" Sept 14, 2018
Maroon 5Cardi B (single version only)"Girls Like You"May 30, 2018"Haiku"Oct 12, 2018
"Shallow" Sept 27, 2018 "Chocolate Lagoon" Mar 19, 2019
Taylor Swift"You Need To Calm Down"June 14, 2019"Lushfull"June 25, 2019
N/A N/A "My Stick!" Dec 25, 2019
BTS"Make it Right" (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert performance)August 22, 2020"Monster Run"Oct 31, 2020
Dune castN/AN/A"Heaven Drips"Nov 26, 2021

Songs created by BLR and published under other identities

Pseudonym Song name BLR video originally featured in Upload date of the BLR video Upload date of the full song Published under
Tourists "Pockets" "Soy Pablo" Sep 13, 2017 Jul 3, 2012[3] Boxboy Records
Skylons "Holy Waterloo" N/A N/A Jul 12, 2012[4] Boxboy Records
Tourists "Fortunate Ones" (unlisted) N/A N/A Jul 18, 2012[5] Boxboy Records
Airport "Partial Arc (One Of These)" (unlisted) N/A N/A Jul 26, 2012[6] Boxboy Records
Kniles "Modify"[1][2] "Medieval Land Fun-Time World" Oct 16, 2013 Jun 5, 2014 Kniles
Ansen Aldren "Don't Fight The Warmth" "The Force Awakens" Apr 6, 2017 Mar 26, 2017[7] Partial Arc Music
Glitter Job "Ice God of Hungary" "Stranger Things" Dec 9, 2017 Dec 12, 2017 Glitter Job
Faron North "Judy Moonlight"[1] "Interrogating Zuckerberg" Apr 24, 2018 May 1, 2018 Faron North
Faron North "Drifted Gray (aka Waterfall Hear My Prayer)" "NFL 2020" Feb 5, 2020 Feb 10, 2020 Faron North
1 Song also featured in BLR's "Royal Wedding" video (May 22, 2018)

2 Song also featured in BLR's "Star Wars" video (Dec 16, 2015)

3 Source: Archived YouTube video page (Archive.org)

4 Source: Holy Waterloo single (Apple Music)

5 Source: Fortunate Ones single (RateYourMusic.com)

6 Source: Archived YouTube channel page (Archive.org)

7 Source: Don't Fight The Warmth single (Apple Music)

Based on movies, TV shows, and plays

Film/TV showRelease date BLR title(s)Upload date
High School Jun 1, 2012 A BLR of a scene from "High School" May 30, 2012
Veep Apr 22, 2012 Selina Meyer- A BLR Sound Bite from "Veep" Jun 4, 2012
Jeff, Who Lives at Home Mar 16, 2012 Jeff, Who Lives at Home Jul 6, 2012
Twilight Nov 28, 2008 Edward and Bella Sept 4, 2012
The Hunger Games Mar 23, 2012 The Hunger Games Sept 20, 2012
The Campaign Aug 10, 2012 Iraqi Gold Oct 26, 2012
Nov 20, 2009 More Twilight Nov 21, 2012
The Amazing Spider-Man Jul 3, 2012 Peter and Gwen Mar 4, 2013
The Walking DeadOct 31, 2010The Walking (And Talking) Dead May 2, 2013
More Walking (And Talking) Dead: Part 1 Sept 25, 2014
More Walking (And Talking) Dead: Part 2 Oct 10, 2014
Game of ThronesApr 17, 2011 Medieval Land Fun-Time World — Extended Trailer Oct 16, 2013
Bonus and Extended Scenes — Medieval Land Fun-Time World Oct 22, 2013
Jun 24, 2010 Twilight III Apr 24, 2014
American Idol Jun 11, 2002 Sing-Song Contest of America May 22, 2014
Nov 22, 2013 More Hunger Games Nov 27, 2014
The Avengers May 4, 2012 Redneck Avengers: Tulsa Nights May 23, 2015
Star Wars May 25, 1977 Star Wars: A Bad Lip Reading Dec 16, 2015
The Empire Strikes Back May 21, 1980 The Empire Strikes Back: A Bad Lip Reading Dec 16, 2015
Return of the Jedi May 25, 1983 Return of the Jedi: A Bad Lip Reading Dec 16, 2015
High School Musical Jan 20, 2006 High School Musical: A Bad Lip Reading Jul 11, 2016
The Force Awakens Dec 18, 2015 The Force Awakens: A Bad Lip Reading (Featuring Mark Hamill as Han Solo) Apr 6, 2017
Narcos Aug 28, 2015 Soy Pablo Extended Trailer Sept 13, 2017
Descendants Jul 31, 2015 Bad Lip Reading Presents: Descendants Nov 18, 2017
Stranger Things Jul 15, 2016Stranger Things: A Bad Lip Reading Dec 9, 2017
More Stranger Things Nov 28, 2019
Hamilton Jul 3, 2020 Axe-Assassin Albertson Jul 23, 2022
It Sep 8, 2017 Icarus Thicke — Extended Trailer Nov 26, 2023
Nov 21, 2014 Even More Hunger Games Dec 20, 2023
Nov 18, 2011 Even More Twilight Jan 3, 2024

Other videos

BLR titleFeaturingUpload date
Rick Perry Sept 18, 2011
Michele Bachmann Oct 3, 2011
Mitt Romney Oct 14, 2011
Herman Cain Oct 28, 2011
Ron Paul Dec 5, 2011
Rick Santorum Jan 31, 2012
Newt Gingrich Feb 7, 2012
Joe Biden Apr 16, 2012
A Bad Lip Reading of Rick Perry's "Strong" Ad May 22, 2012
Bush & Clinton June 28, 2012
More Mitt Aug 13, 2012
Paul Ryan's Video Diary Oct 2, 2012
Eye of the Sparrow Oct 9, 2012
2012 Debate Highlights Nov 6, 2012
The NFL: A Bad Lip Reading Jan 15, 2013
Inauguration 2013: A Bad Lip Reading Jan 24, 2013
2013 Independent Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay Nominees Feb 26, 2013
More NFL Jan 24, 2014
NFL 2015 Jan 22, 2015
First Republican Debate Highlights: 2015 Aug 19, 2015
First Democratic Debate Highlights: 2015 Oct 28, 2015
NFL 2016: Part One Feb 2, 2016
NFL 2016: Part Two Feb 5, 2016
Ted Cruz Mar 1, 2016
Bernie & Hillary Apr 21, 2016
Cruz Talks Trump Jul 25, 2016
Democratic National Convention Aug 19, 2016
Debate Night! Oct 6, 2016
Presidential Poetry Slam Oct 21, 2016
Inauguration Day Jan 25, 2017
NFL 2017 Feb 1, 2017
Mayweather vs. McGregor Jul 14, 2017
NFL 2018 Feb 3, 2018
Interrogating Zuckerberg Apr 24, 2018
Royal WeddingPrince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince William, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Michael CurryMay 22, 2018
The NBA Jun 11, 2018
Trump-Kim Summit Jun 20, 2018
White House Press Briefing Aug 23, 2018
Hillary Stories Sept 26, 2018
MLB: A Bad Lip Reading Oct 29, 2018
Apple Product Launch Dec 21, 2018
NFL 2019 Feb 1, 2019
State of the Union Feb 12, 2019
Trump in Asia Jul 10, 2019
Biden 2020 Oct 17, 2019
NFL 2020 Feb 5, 2020
State of the Union 2020 Feb 27, 2020
Trump Interview Aug 14, 2020
Debate Night 2020! Oct 23, 2020
NFL 2021 Feb 9, 2021
NFL 2022 Feb 18, 2022
Inspirational Holiday Video Dec 22, 2022
The House of Representatives Feb 5, 2023
State of the Union 2023 May 10, 2023
DeSantis for President Jul 14, 2023

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: BadLipReading. YouTube. December 29, 2019.
  2. 1111715365430530048 . BadLipReading . Indeed. It already exists. Check Spotify or iTunes . January 22, 2021. March 29, 2019.
  3. Web site: Bad Lip Reading: An Interview With the Man Behind The Beautiful Nonsense. Pinto. Nick. Village Voice. November 8, 2011 . 2016-03-30.
  4. Web site: "Gang Fight" -- Rebecca Black, as interpreted by a bad lip reader . Bad Lip Reading . . 2011-03-22 .
  5. Web site: A bd Lip Reading of The Hunger Games. elizabethbanks.com. 2021-01-22.
  6. Web site: Bad Lip Reading: The NFL Like You've Never Heard It. MTV. 2013-01-16. 2013-02-01. January 21, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130121021423/http://guycodeblog.mtv.com/2013/01/16/nfl-lip-readings. dead.
  7. Web site: 'The NFL: A Bad Lip Reading' stars Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady and more (VIDEO). Sporting News. 2013-01-16. 2013-02-01.
  8. Web site: Check out the latest edition of NFL Bad Lip Reading. January 22, 2015 . 7 January 2018.
  9. Web site: Bad Lip Reading - A lot of people have asked about the... Facebook. www.facebook.com. en. 2017-03-20.
  10. Web site: Bad Lip Reading Facebook. .
  11. Billboard Comedy Digital Tracks Sales 12-17-2016. .
  12. News: Mark Hamill Does an Outstanding Han Solo in 'Bad Lip Reading' Installment. Parker. Ryan. April 6, 2017. Hollywood Reporter.
  13. Web site: Billboard Comedy Digital Tracks January 23, 2016. Billboard.com.
  14. 897071898001059840. Lin_Manuel. My nephews turned me on to Bushes Of Love by @BadLipReading. "Every day I worry all day" is THE summer jam of 2017…. 14 August 2017.
  15. News: YouTube Reveals 2017 Top Viral and Music Videos. Variety.
  16. The Bad Lip Reading of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga Singing 'Shallow' Goes Off the Deep End. Raisa. Bruner. March 21, 2019. April 8, 2019. Time.
  17. Web site: "CHOCOLATE LAGOON" — A Bad Lip Reading of "Shallow" (video). March 19, 2019. April 9, 2019. Bad Lip Reading.
  18. https://www.playbill.com/article/alexander-hamilton-becomes-axe-assassin-albertson-in-this-hamilton-bad-lip-reading-video 'Alexander Hamilton' Becomes 'Axe-Assassin Albertson' in This Hamilton Bad Lip Reading Video
  19. 1551209056697720833. Lin_Manuel. "No you know whatI'm too excited for this modeWONDER MODE!"(Thanks @BadLipReading. You've made my life.) -LMM. 24 July 2022.
  20. 1557055774223765504. BadLipReading. We all found our own ways of coping and staying sane during the pandemic. Me? I spent months watching Hamilton on m…. 9 August 2022.
  21. Web site: Masnick . Mike. Universal Uses Copyright To Censor Bad Lip Reading Parody; Why Not Embrace It? . 2011-10-24 . techdirt . 2012-03-21 .
  22. Web site: Beard with Glue . Youtube.com . Bad Lip Reading . December 15, 2023 . October 28, 2011.