The Chainsmokers earned a mighty rite of pop music passage when they performed their now-double platinum song “Closer” with Halsey at the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. While opinions on the performance were split, The Chainsmokers’ member Andrew Taggart got candid with Billboard in a cover story that revealed he felt that they “sounded like shit” during their performance.
Taggart told Billboard that he thought their VMAs performance “sounded like shit. We were told my voice was going to be mixed well, but there was no reverb and it was way louder than the track for the broadcast.” He also thought that they were “set up to fail. Nearly every other person lip-synced it, and we knew because we had them in our ears. So now I know why you lip-sync.” He also admitted that his mom told him to “keep up with [his] singing lessons,” after the performance aired.
Despite Taggart’s initial feelings on the performance, he posted a more uplifting Instagram post attached to a picture of him and Halsey during their VMAs performance. He revealed that the performance was his first time really singing live and that he buckled under the pressure of being on TV and having Kanye West in the audience. But, he affirmed to never give up while announcing that “Closer” had gone double platinum, which makes their third double platinum record of 2016 after “Roses” and “Don’t Let Me Down.” 
Check out Taggart’s Instagram post below:
