The title sums it up nicely.
I was looking at a video of Michael Jackson performing at the Motown Anniversary, doing his famous performance of Billie Jean and I was struck by how astonishingly clear the sound is. You Tube clip.
So, was he lip synching? Or am I just too jaded by modern pop stars to think that someone could sing that clearly without the aid of technology?
My impression from watching it when it originally aired was that the “Billie Jean” number was lip-synced, but that his performance with his brothers on the show was live.
No one else has an opinion?
My opinion is that he’s lip-synching (not that that’s even slightly a bad thing, IMO). There’s no band/orchestra anywhere in sight; the instrumentation is identical to the radio hit; the whoops and hollars in the background are indentical to the radio version (IIRC). I will say, though, that he does a damn fine job of lip-synching in that performance.
Actually, a band is visible to the back and left of the stage at several points (there’s a good glimpse from about 2:05-2:40), but they seem to be sitting around and watching (one member appear to be clapping along), rather than actually performing.
Oops!
Thanks. My monitor is on its last legs and everything appears too dark. Couldn’t see them at all. 
I think that it was almost certainly synched, but that video is a nice reminder that before MJ went batshit crazy, he was the King of Pop. Nobody else came close.