It’s easy to put Beyoncé on a pedestal. In the eyes of her millions of fans, she’s been carrying the music industry on her back since her Destiny’s Child debut in 1997. For over 20 years now, the mother of three has been reinventing the idaof what it means to be a pop star, by not only being at the top of her game, but quite literally changing it. She is her only competition.
Beyoncé drops a surprise album? It becomes the most exciting music marketing technique of the 2010s. Beyoncé uses a marching band at Coachella in 2018? Collegiate music becomes a permanent fixture in the pop charts. Beyoncé celebrates all things disco and chrome in her Renaissance era? The high street is full of silver all summer. Time and time again, the world’s favourite multi-hyphenate transcends pop star status and can only be considered, in her own words, an “Alien Superstar”.
Below, seven reasons why she’s always be That Girl.
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When the Renaissance tour was announced back in January, the major question on the beyhive’s lips was: who will be her opening act? The rumour mill suggested friends of Bey, perhaps Tems or Chloe X Halle. The reality was even sweeter. Come 10 May and opening night at Friends Arena in Stockholm, the crowd (and those of us watching on a dodgy Instagram live stream) waited with bated breath. Beyoncé emerged in a metallic black and silver custom Alexander McQueen suit to the haunting piano of Dangerously in Love, the titular song from her solo debut in 2003. Confusion turned to euphoria as it became apparent that Beyoncé would be her own opening act.
That Grammys performance
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Cast your mind back to February 2017, when Beyoncé was booked to perform at the Grammys. During her sombre and stirring rendition of “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles”, the pregnant (with twins, no less) 36-year-old sat on chair that reclined backwards at a 45 degree angle, leaving her suspended. Of course, no such stunt would happen without extensive safety checks and dummy runs, yet it’s still a ballsy move – and now feels like a forerunner to a pregnant Rihanna’s soaring Super Bowl gig.
The surprise album
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Not many album releases become breaking news. Let alone the kind of breaking news that reminds you where you were in that very moment (I was walking to school) even 10 years later. Yet, on 13 December 2013, Beyoncé changed the game again by dropping an eponymous album with absolutely no warning. An album, might I add, that heralded a new era for the superstar. Some might argue that a newly elusive, unattainable aura formedaound the star post-BEYONCÉ (2013). Three years later in 2016, she dropped Lemonade as a visual album – another concept popularised by the artist.
When Beyoncé said gay rights!
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Queen Bey has long been an ally for social justice causes. From launching BEYGOOD in 2013, her charitable arm supporting Black businesses, to celebrating her queer fans, and the queer history that is so ingrained in the Renaissance album. She is an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. It was only fitting that she should declare “gay rights!” while surrounded by a flurry of sequins and descending from the harness her disco horse (Reneigh) carries her on. It was camp.
Her wardrobe
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No Beyoncé round-up would be complete without a nod to her status as a fashion favourite. Beyoncé’s collaboration with stylists for Renaissance has resulted in the ultimate “tour-drobe”. Sporting custom-made gowns from major houses and cult pieces from emerging designers, this is arguably the best Bey has ever looked.
Her VMAs pregnancy reveal
It’s hard to not write the word “iconic” 15 times over when talking about Beyoncé. But there is no other way to describe her Blue Ivy pregnancy reveal. At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé gave an impossibly high-octance performance of “Love On Top” – key changes and all – in a buttoned up purple sequined pantsuit. For the finale? She dropped the mic, opened up the blazer and rubbed her growing belly with one hand on her hip. The wind machine was working like rent was due.
She’s a meme
Beyoncé likes a joke. From singing “Somebody’s getting fired, hey hey!” because a runner messed up the lighting during a 13-year-old performance of “Diva”, to jumping off a yacht in a complete vertical line, Beyoncé often leans into her meme potential. The best one of all? Her 2007 interview with Reggie Yates while doing Dreamgirls promo. The presenter attempts to teach the star some Cockney rhyming slang and she cannot comprehend what he is saying. Like, at all.
