beyonce formation tour water

Buying Tickets for Beyoncé’s Formation Tour Will Help Bring Clean Water to Flint

By Emma Sarran Webster

Beyoncé caused a carefully curated firestorm last weekend, first with the release of her "Formation" music video, then with her show stopping Super Bowl halftime show to the same song, and wrapped it all up with the Sunday announcement of her world tour . Unsurprisingly, people are still talking about all of it, not just because it was a trifecta of amazingness, but rather because Bey made some pretty clear political statements. Both in her "Formation" video and her live performance , she made it clear that she's supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Now, she’s standing up for even more lives that matter: those of the people of Flint, Michigan. The Feb 7. press release announcing Bey’s world tour stated , “True to her life’s work of always giving back, fans will be given the opportunity to participate in Beyoncé’s #BeyGood initiative supporting local United Way programs and the continued work surrounding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.”

It was recently discovered that thousands of people in Flint have been drinking dangerous, lead-poisoned water since 2014, when the city switched the water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Flint River’s water has a high chloride content, which leaches lead from plumbing materials into the drinking water, and the resulting lead poisoning can cause kidney damage, miscarriages, comas, and mental disabilities. In response to this devastating crisis, President Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint, and actions are being taken by the government to address the damage. But the reality is, Flint needs all the help it can get — which is why Beyoncé’s latest announcement is so great.

Bey and her team are partnering with the United Way of Genesee County , which has already been working hard for the people of Flint, providing filtration pitchers, faucet filters, filter cartridges, and fresh water. According to Beyonce’s press release, the United way is also working with the Community Foundation of Greater Flint “to create a fund that will address long-term developmental, education, nutrition and health needs of the children affected by the Flint Water Crisis.”

Beyoncé isn’t the first celebrity to lend a hand — and resources — to help combat this crisis. Singer Cher donated 180,000 bottles of water; Mark Wahlberg and Diddy — investors in AquaHydrate — donated one million bottles ; Aretha Franklin offered hotel rooms, food, and money to displaced Flint residents; and musicians Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, and Pearl Jam have also stepped up with donations and assistance. Big Sean started a Crowdrise fundraiser last month, Help Flint’s Kids , which has raised nearly $60,000 for the cause so far.

Follow @beygood on Twitter to stay up-to-date on Beyonce’s philanthropic efforts, and head to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to donate to the relief efforts yourself.

Related: This Is Why the Water in One Michigan City Is Poisoned

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Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour: The Complete Breakdown of Her First Show

By Liz Tracy

Beyoncé ’s performances can sometimes feel a bit serious, with her structured, synchronized dancers and no-one-wakes-up-like-that style. But at the kick-off of her Formation World Tour last night at Marlins Park in Miami, it seems like she finally found what it is that makes her smile. She appeared to have embraced the entirety of her intense nature, found the joy it it, then brought it to the stage. She was exact without seeming meticulous (which she obviously is), not to mention vulnerable and a little giddy. Instead of bowing before her, the Beyhive shook, swayed, and squealed alongside their queen.

The release of her new album, Lemonade , and its visual accompaniment just days before this arena show left no one in the dark about why Solange attacked Jay Z in that elevator. It seemed Bey wrote and sang her way through her grief to forgiveness in her marriage. And, as trite as it sounds, maybe that trial overcome was why the gleam in her eye was brighter than ever.

There was really no better way to open up in the Magic City than with living meme DJ Khaled presenting a receiving line of surprise guest rappers, each for a few minutes in the spotlight of an almost empty stadium: Rick Ross , 2 Chainz , Yo Gotti , Lil Wayne , Trick Daddy, Kent Jones, and finally, Future . Beyoncé, on the other hand, does only Beyoncé. She isn't the type to mess with surprises in the live setting very often (album releases are another story). This is her show, and she's who you came to see. Here’s a complete breakdown of what went down last night.

The Setlist

She sang a seamless 37-song mix starting with “ Formation ,” moving through a well-paced serving of Lemonade songs and forgotten early gems, ending with a string of popular, danceable bangers and a touching final few moments.

"Formation" "Sorry" "Bow Down / Tom Ford" "Run the World (Girls)" "Mine" "Baby Boy" "Hold Up" "Countdown" "Me, Myself and I" "Runnin'" (Naughty Boy song Bey appears on) "All Night" "Don’t Hurt Yourself" "Ring the Alarm" "Diva" "Flawless (Remix)" "Feeling Myself" "Yoncé" "7/11" "Drunk in Love" "Rocket" "Daddy Lessons" "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" "Purple Rain" (Prince cover, obviously) "Crazy in Love/Bootylicious" "Naughty Girl" "Party" "Blow / Nasty Girl" "Sweet Dreams" (Eurythmics cover) "Sweet Dreams" (Bey's song) " Freedom " "Survivor" "End of Time/Grown Woman" "Halo"

The Performance

The lights shut off suddenly just minutes after the 8:30 p.m. start time and were replaced by a rotating rectangular cube screen that stood as high as the stadium. To the distinctive opening notes of “Formation,” the display showed a massive moving image of the singer with an orchid in her mouth that soon changed to artsy—but not screensaver-ish—nature scenes.

At first, it seemed like you could see her thighs gliding through the smoke as a tidy bevy of black-clad women in wide-brimmed hats sauntered out. Another mirror image gang suddenly appeared on the other side of the stage. It was there that the queen in all her glory was concealed amidst her subjects. “If you came to have a good time, say, ‘I slay!’” she instructed. The cheering crowd was a dark sea dotted with iPhone lights.

Next, a recording of Brenda Lee cooing “I’m Sorry” played as an explosion of blue and red light flooded the stage. “You all know this song. Try and help me sing,” Mrs. Carter announced before standing solo for her less apologetic “Sorry.” Her dancers came out, middle fingers blazing. Starting out boldly, this is the song that features the “better call Becky with the good hair” line currently ringing in everyone’s ears and rolling off their tongues. The intensity escalated and found expression in a concentrated group dance to “Flawless.” The feeling was heightened by bursts of fire reaching high into the clear night above the stage, as the Major Lazer sample at the heart of “Run the World (Girls)” pumped through the speakers. The mood swayed between personal and jovial, like when Sean Paul’s distinctive growl came through on “Baby Boy.” Things stayed cool and tropical with a clip of the Sister Nancy’s dancehall opus “Bam Bam” that transitioned into “Hold Up” while Beyoncé and her girls bounced their bottoms to the delight of the masses.

By Matthew Strauss

The show continued smoothly with “7/11” and “Feeling Myself,” plus clips from O.T. Genasis’ “Cut It” and D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel).” “Drunk in Love” secured the rapture and participation of the crowd, with the lyrics after “surfboardt” being recited especially loudly. Bey had her Madonna BDSM “Human Nature” moment when she appeared in a wooden box wearing a red pleather bodysuit and sang her Fifty Shades of Gray version of “Crazy in Love” before a “Bootylicious”/“Naughty Girl” mashup that indicated the night was winding down. She even had an Annie Lennox moment, impressively covering the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”

The whole time, Beyoncé smiled through her sweat. She glowed as she said a long goodbye, complete with salutes, laughter, and a childlike jump in the air. Something happened to Beyoncé between the release of “Formation” and Lemonade that softened her hardest edges, sweetened her mood. She seemed to have struck the balance between being “perfect” and being perfectly herself.

A massive, moving video cube was the backdrop for the stage, and it helped greatly in transforming a baseball stadium into an arena of magic. Much of the video shown came from Lemonade, so the show stuck close to Bey’s powerful visual themes and various symbolism surrounding black womanhood, accompanied during interludes by Warsan Shire’s spoken-word poetry that was adapted for Lemonade . One video showed the singer with a muzzle of diamonds and a razor emerging from her mouth, which she used to slice a bloodless cross on her giant tongue. The crowd cringed as Bey removed her priceless silencing device to ask, “Why can’t you see you’re the love of my life?” Damn.

There were a few more lighthearted moments within the visuals as well, including fan videos asking Bey “to just put out a new CD!”, home movies with Jay and Blue Ivy at play, and clips from Bey’s childhood performances.

Photo by Frank Micelotta/Parkwood Entertainment via Getty Images

The Costumes

Not one leg on that stage was covered, which was kind of amazing considering the style in which her dancers—nearly all black women—were dressed: They resembled gothic ice skaters in puffy, long-sleeved, and sequined bodysuits. Bey’s outfit changes—of which there were roughly six throughout the two-hour show—were varied but not all that more ostentatious than the looks her dancers sported: think bodysuits emblazoned with red and gold sequins in geometric shapes, a few more elegant looks.

The Stage Set-Up & Choreography

The brilliant set design had every single person in the stadium feeling like they were in the front row, by blowing up Beyoncé’s live image to the size of a building. Dancers were suspended and twirling from the ends of wires, with one writhing in a metal cube midair. Queen Bey had a Game of Thrones -style throne that rose from the guts of the stage. Plus, obviously, there were fireworks, pyrotechnics, and a buttload of confetti. The mostly synchronized choreography, however, was a little simpler. Elements of African dance and flapper moves were incorporated throughout.

The greatest design aspect was the catwalk, which snaked its way in an L-shape into the crowd on the field. Towards the end of the show, it turned out to have a conveyer belt on it, which moved the dancers smoothly into the audience before lowering into a pool of water, where the ladies danced to “Freedom.” The choreo’s tone was serious and powerful given the song’s strong Civil Rights message , but the way the dancers splashed as they marched and stomped was also playful—and just incredible to watch, visually.

Later, Beyoncé sat barefoot in this pool of water and dedicated the final song, “Halo,” to her family and her “beautiful husband.” She also thanked Prince for his “beautiful music,” and God for speaking through all of “his artists.”

The Fan Interaction

Beyoncé spent a bit of time alone on stage, making her way down the catwalk by herself as she reveled in the attention. She told a few stories. Earlier that day, Blue Ivy saw the stadium and asked her if she was going to work. This reminded Beyoncé of being a little girl and fantasizing about having a sold-out stadium tour. “I’m witnessing a dream come true tonight,” she said, truly touched. “I want to thank my Beyhive.” She basked in some low-key songs that showed off her chops, like “Me, Myself, and I,” saying, “Nobody is responsible for your happiness but you. And you always have yourself, so you are never alone.” As Bey is one to do live, she asked for a lot of “help” singing her songs, with some call-and-response on “All Night.”

For “Single Ladies,” Beyoncé brought up two crowd members. Of course these young women—one wearing an “unavailable” tee and the other sporting a white bodysuit and curly mohawk—knew all the choreography and performed with panache.

The Beyhive was dressed to impress but in an understated way suited for Miami’s spring weather. There were moms sporting Talbots, slender young boys in heels and mascara, tons of girls rocking bodysuits, and even more wearing shirts purchased at the relatively unimpressive merch table. It would have been better if the girl wearing her homemade “I was served lemons but made lemonade” jean jacket had been serving up her creation for sale. There were two exceptions to these surprisingly underwhelming merch offerings, however: a stylish tank with a line drawing of Bey flipping the bird (for a steep $45), and “Boycott Beyoncé” shirts, which referenced the proposed police boycott of the concert by the Miami Fraternal Order of Police. Despite the so-called anti-police message in Beyoncé’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, the boys in blue showed up for work and managed the packed stadium. The show was, in fact, not politically charged in the way her Super Bowl performance was.

There was a Prince tribute that involved the huge screen turning purple and “Purple Rain” playing over the speakers. It was more of an interlude than a proper tribute. During one of the two guitar solos, Beyoncé also shouted-out one of Prince’s earliest proteges, the woman-powered R&B trio Vanity 6, and rolled out a little of their biggest hit “Nasty Girl,” which she’s covered before .

Also, Bey’s former Destiny’s Child cohort Michelle Williams was in the house, though not on stage. This was Beyoncé’s solo victory lap, through and through.

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The Formation Tour Is Beyoncé at Her Most Humanly Infallible

Beyoncé is not God. She tells you as much about a third of the way through her Formation World Tour — which lit up Citi Field in Queens for the second of two nights on Wednesday — with two stadium-length illuminated screens bearing the words “God is God. I am not” in all caps. As it does during the snarling “Don’t Hurt Yourself” in her visual masterpiece Lemonade , the message flashes fast. Blink and you’ll miss it. The position is reinforced by moments that are, if only briefly, unmistakably human — such as when, on the first night of her NYC dates, Beyoncé sneezed. Twice, politely and discreetly, into her arm, like any non-godly person, one not performing for a sold-out crowd at a stadium that last year co-hosted the World Series, might do.

But for many, witnessing Beyoncé let out a sneeze only adds to the mystique of feeling “close” to someone so seemingly godlike, prompting her otherwise quiet achoo to dominate the news cycle for an entire day. On her second night at Citi Field, Beyoncé’s bedazzled nude bodysuit ripped near the crotch during her finale — “Halo,” appropriately — moments after she and her apostolic all-female dancers create the illusion of walking barefoot on water. Beyoncé may not be God, but she still conveys an air of being more than human.

The Beyoncé that rises from the bitterness of Lemonade — and all the events that may or may not have inspired it — is a woman knocked off her axis. She’s been tortured, flung off a roof, gone rogue with a baseball bat, baptized in the holy water of redemption, and eventually resurrected. Every emotional flaw she exposes finds itself under her own microscope. Yet that vulnerability is absent from the Beyoncé brigade that marches out from behind the fog at Citi Field to open the show with the song from which the tour gets its name.

That group of dancers, dressed in all black and led by their queen, with Bey’s eyes glaring out from under a wide-brimmed hat that’s even larger than the one she wears in her “Formation” video, revels in infallibility. No matter the inevitability of the ambitious production erring (her costume tearing, or one of the huge video screens temporarily malfunctioning), Beyoncé remains a pillar of perfection holding it all together. At work, just as in the moments of personal crisis shared on Lemonade , any weakness, too, shall pass.

Attending a Beyoncé concert puts you front row to a series of spectacles. She makes dancers into trapeze artists. A massive rendering of her head shoots sparklers out of its eyes near the grand finale. She sings her favorite song, “1+1,” partially a cappella. During intermission — required so Beyoncé and her dancers can change into red latex bodysuits for a homage to the Parisian Crazy Horse cabaret show, which includes a performance of the smoldering  50 Shades of Grey version of “Crazy in Love,” as well as the original — the giant, glowing cube serving as the centerpiece of her stage goes purple for Prince. “Purple Rain” erupts from the speakers, lit phones are raised, and the crowd sings a eulogy.

At 34, Beyoncé has reached what probably isn’t the apex of her artistry just yet, but what certainly looks like she’s on the cusp of something unprecedented. Translating a visual album — or even just an album album — as rich, complex, and cinematic as Lemonade requires an understanding of the moments your audience will want to relive. She doesn’t deliver them all (there’s no reenacting the “Hold Up” video, sadly), but instead integrates what she knows we’ll love regardless of the demand. “Formation” into “Sorry” is a no-brainer opening to the show, but only the truly clairvoyant would’ve had a “Daddy Lessons” sing-along following the D’Angelo semi-cover “Rocket” on their wish list. It’s a highlight of the night.

In a rare breath during a show that never truly exhales, Beyoncé pauses to reflect on the 19 years that have passed since she made her debut with Destiny’s Child, thanking us for allowing her to grow. Seeing her perform songs from the latter half of her career — the set list is almost exclusively curated from her last three albums, save for surprise throwbacks like “Me, Myself, and I” and B’Day ’s “Kitty Kat” — makes the earlier cuts she performs feel like they’re from a different artist altogether. Still, she saves one of her former group’s biggest hits, “Survivor,” for nearly last, having already preached empowerment to the girls in the crowd: “There is no such thing as a weak woman. We are born strong.”

Beyoncé’s own strength isn’t in her ability to mastermind then maestro a two-hour concert event at stadiums worldwide. It’s that she can turn a phrase as modern, black, and gay as “I slay” into universal gospel — a mantra so transformative, it at once inspires mass worship at her altar and gives you the self-belief to build your own.

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Review: ‘Formation’ World Tour, Beyoncé Through ‘Lemonade’-Tinted Glasses

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By Jon Caramanica

• April 28, 2016

MIAMI — “Crazy in Love,” Beyoncé’s first solo No. 1 single, remains, even 13 years after its release, a signature — an exuberant sparring session of jubilant horns and percussive vocals, overlaid with singing that’s somehow both acrobatic and sauntering.

When she started to perform that song at Marlins Park here on Wednesday night, though, it was something else altogether: slurry, gothic, desiccated. She and several dancers had just arrived onstage in adjacent wooden boxes. From afar, they looked like a row of coffins.

But after a couple of minutes of stretching “Crazy in Love” like taffy, Beyoncé reset. There were the erupting horns. There was the familiar voice-over introduction by her husband, Jay Z. There was the megawatt smile and the cocky stroll.

After a quick detour past a disruptive fun-house mirror, Beyoncé had set everything right again.

That transition was a microcosm of this whole concert — the opening night of her 41-date “Formation” World Tour — which began at something like a funeral and ended very surely at baptism, an arc that was already familiar from “Lemonade,” the rather staggering tale of disappointment and perseverance that Beyoncé had released just days earlier as a stunning hourlong HBO special and a straightforward album.

On “Lemonade” — and perhaps in real life, though no one’s telling — Beyoncé is a love-racked naïf, newly woken to the failed state that is her marriage. The first half of the album is pure vengeance. Beyoncé has always been a fanatic about technique and structure and sheen, but on the record, for the first time, she’s a zealot about vulnerability.

She performed many of the best songs from the album here: “Sorry,” during which her backup dancers extended two indignant middle fingers; “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” during which she was backed onscreen by unforgiving flames; “Daddy Lessons,” where she sang about her pain as a sort of cross-generational inheritance.

Even more vividly, this show refracted her old catalog through the prism of “Lemonade” and its revelations. Take the anxiety of “Me, Myself and I,” from her solo debut album, “Dangerously in Love,” released in 2003, the year after she and Jay Z began dating, or the grown-folks problems captured on “Mine,” from her self-titled 2013 album . Suddenly, an alternate history of Beyoncé is available, one that de-emphasizes her exceptional voice and ruthless perfectionism and underscores her persistent unease with love.

The stage’s centerpiece was a giant rotating tower that served as a jumbo screen simulcasting the action to the cheap seats, a video-interlude delivery device (midshow, the large screen went purple as the sound system blared Prince’s “Purple Rain”) and an interactive movement partner, splitting in the middle to reveal dancers suspended in air.

At either side of the stage were smallish pens that held several dozen of Beyoncé’s loudest fans. From time to time, she would give one of them a long glance, share a laugh or offer the microphone for a shared song.

But for someone who excels at spectacle, and who conducts and executes grand-scale group activity with military precision, Beyoncé made the striking decision to spend large parts of this show alone, unvarnished under the night sky.

In these poignant moments, she seemed not particularly preoccupied with the pyrotechnics that ordinarily are used to fill stadiums (though later, there were actual fireworks). Clearly, she felt that a meditative approach to her anguish was sufficient. And indeed, in the shadow of such an overpowering emotional manifesto, some of her breezier material felt misplaced here, as did bits and pieces of songs that weren’t hers — a quick dance routine to O. T. Genasis’s “Cut It,” a needless bit of Eurythmics’s “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” pasted into her own “Sweet Dreams.”

This was mild clutter, though, especially for a pop star who is a fiery dancer and can keep up with her backing troupe at peak speed and complexity. Several times, they all strutted down a long catwalk that led to a platform in the middle of the field, holding court and striking poses along the way.

At the end of the show, that platform was covered in water, and Beyoncé and her dancers stomped and kicked and splashed in a deeply visceral display of earthy power. As on “Lemonade,” the show’s final act served as a resolution and salve — fury giving way to release.

That stretch of songs was the night’s most provocative: the new “Freedom,” with its screaming guitars; the martial “Survivor,” newly relevant; the twitchy love song “End of Time”; and the temperate ballad “Halo,” which she dedicated “to my beautiful husband,” adding, “I love you so much.”

It felt warm but incomplete, lacking the earned resolution she achieved on “Lemonade,” thanks to conciliatory songs like “Sandcastles” and “Forward,” neither of which she performed here.

“Lemonade” was first made available on Tidal , Jay Z’s streaming service, and if you’re inclined to believe the sort of people who give anonymous quotes to entertainment reporters, then there’s this, from E! News : “He knew the lyrics; he knew the implications. He had to approve the songs before release.”

Which is to say that the act of enjoying this phase of Beyoncé’s career demands a tacit forgiveness of her husband and apparent antagonist. Before the night’s final segment, the screen showed videos of her, Jay Z and Blue Ivy, their daughter, in scenes meant to reaffirm the certitude of their familial bliss. Some people did boo, though, when Jay Z appeared onscreen.

When Beyoncé shifts moods on “Lemonade” away from indignation and toward healing, Jay Z shifts from a shadowy figure to a near-collaborator, even though his voice is nowhere to be heard. Though this show followed a similar path, Jay Z remained an abstraction throughout — this wasn’t his stage, even if he was nearby, watching.

During “Flawless (Remix),” Beyoncé sat at the edge of the stage surrounded by her dancers, and sang about the 2014 episode in which her sister, Solange, assaulted Jay Z in an elevator , the event that was the first high-profile public rupture in the outwardly perfect Beyoncé-Jay Z union.

After that line, though, Beyoncé laughed, said, “Goddamn, goddamn, goddamn,” then segued into “Feeling Myself,” a giggly song about how no one is better suited to loving you than yourself.

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Beyoncé: Formation tour, Cardiff review – Queen Bey’s even bigger splash

Principality Stadium, Cardiff Ferocious and flawless, in ankle-deep water, Beyoncé flirts with potential electrocution in a spectacular show that ramps up the personal

F ew artists could turn a paddling pool into the crowning glory of a tour about politics, betrayal, female endurance and familial devotion. But this is Beyoncé – a former showbiz automaton, originally launched out of a Machiavellian girl group 19 years ago; now, if not quite the mother of her nation, then at least its wise, fierce, conscientious and glam big sister. It is the height of cliche to talk of artists being on “a journey”, but the distance travelled by Beyoncé Knowles Carter is unparalleled in modern pop. (Imagine Britney, say, going out on such a limb.)

The final segment of Beyoncé’s Formation show takes place on a B-stage, ankle-deep in water. It looks cold, but her squad of dancers kick it up joyfully into great arcs, whipping their wet hair around. Fans have reached the stadium by dodging Cardiff’s rather more pedestrian puddles. But onstage, Beyoncé’s rectangle of water allows for a kind of sexy baptism; she’s all about the power of transformation.

You know that electrocution can’t be a serious risk since Beyoncé is way too expensive to replace, but the frisson of so much water next to so much lighting – and to two-way travelators plus a giant, revolving screen-cube (“the monolith”) the size of a small block of flats – just adds to the sense of an uncommon and elemental spectacle taking place. Beyoncé is singing Freedom , from April’s Lemonade . “Imma wade through your shallow love,” the song goes. Her husband Jay Z – rapper, mogul, possible love cheat – served Beyoncé lemons (or the narrative goes). So Beyoncé made an extraordinary album called Lemonade , in which the themes of the Black Lives Matter movement were woven into furious songs about infidelity, moving songs about heartbreak and defiant songs about reconciliation. The tour might be called Formation, after its rabble-rousing opening number , a tune that shocked the US public when Beyoncé performed it as a tribute to the Black Panther movement during half time at the Super Bowl in February . But in the course of the set, the political is dialled down while the personal is ramped up.

In two hours, Beyoncé works everything into the show – bravura vocal performances on songs like Me, Myself and I and Love On Top , a few apposite Destiny’s Child tunes, militaristic physical theatre, and half a dozen costume changes (one unexpectedly redolent of Iron Man ). The monolith doesn’t so much demolish the fourth wall of performance as construct fifth, sixth and seventh walls, to play out further imagery. An extended remix of Flawless drums home the message that a sliver of Knowles’s magnificence is available to all of us, if we channel a bit of “bad bitch” Bey and “feel” ourselves.

On balance, the passages where Beyoncé is fierce – superwoman scorned, feminist cheerleader, avenging Amazon – are more arresting than the longueurs where she declares her love and forgiveness. Don’t Hurt Yourself – her rock-infused co-write with Jack White – is a hot mess of headbanging and a wall of electrical sparks, a robed Beyoncé sounding extra-ferocious.

Twangier is Daddy Lessons ( as covered by Dixie Chicks on tour last month), which finds Beyoncé going the full Texas, her dancers fusing a little line-dancing into their usually harsher moves. As the somewhat ambivalent lyrics tell it, Mathew Knowles’s impression is that his eldest daughter is being “played”. (The unstated implication is that he would know, having been unfaithful himself .) His advice? “Shoot”, and certainly Lemonade can be read as that shot.

Sorry (“I ain’t sorry… Better call Becky with the good hair”), meanwhile, starts with Beyoncé spouting vitriol on her own, and ends with a train of dancers, their hands on each others’ shoulders, a phalanx of muscular comfort. (There is, she says later, “no such thing as a weak woman”.) There is a delicious pause, then she launches into a 10-year-old, sassy favourite, Irreplaceable (“I could have another you in a minute!”), a singalong tune that is totally gripping in its new significance. Its meaning is weightier now, given the toll allegedly taken on her marriage.

Hold Up , one of the more magnificent moments of the show, with Beyoncé strutting her stuff particularly insouciantly, contains one of Lemonade’s most memorable lyrics. “What’s worse, looking jealous or crazy?” she sings . That word, “crazy”, hangs in the air; laden. We hear it again much later, dating from a time when the Knowles-Carter union was brand new. Crazy in Love begins in heavy slow-motion, in red latex, a more sex-worker reading, before finally gathering speed.

Beyoncé has been playing Prince’s Purple Rain as costume-change music, the monolith lit up in purple. In Cardiff, the stadium’s phones are all a-twinkle for it. But kneeling in a pool of light, she also covers Prince’s The Beautiful Ones, fully inhabiting its pain, as she pleads with her errant lover to choose her, not her rival.

Once upon a time, Survivor was a Destiny’s Child hit full of youthful swagger. But now that Beyoncé has survived a little more, it takes on greater heft. Artists routinely recontextualise their old material. Here, though, the pickings are especially rich.

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The Formation World Tour

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The Formation World Tour is the seventh concert tour by Beyoncé . It is in support of her sixth studio album, Lemonade . The tour began on April 27, 2016, at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida, and concluded at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on October 7, 2016.

• 1 Background
• 2 Production and development
• 4 Tour dates
• 6.1 Clothing
• 6.2 Accessories

Background [ ]

On February 6, 2016, Beyoncé released " Formation " for free on the music streaming service TIDAL and its accompanying music video on her official YouTube. On February 7, 2016, Beyoncé performed "Formation" during her guest appearance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. Immediately after the performance, a commercial aired announcing The Formation World Tour, which would kick off in Miami on April 27, with the first pre-sales going on sale just two days after the announcement on February 9, 2016.

Production and development [ ]

The focal point of the tour's main-stage was a 60 feet tall rotating cuboid, nicknamed the 'Monolith' by designers. The stage also consists of a runway, which also acts as a treadmill leading onto a B-stage that fills with a pool of water. The treadmill on the catwalk was designed to be waterproof in order to withstand unpredictable weather found in outdoor stadiums. The B-stage stores 2,000 gallons of water inside of it and takes approximately 10 minutes to fill up, which occurs without the audience even realizing.

Setlist [ ]

The setlist varies from date to date, but in total it has been composed of 45 songs: 9 from Lemonade , 7 from Beyoncé , 7 from 4 , 4 from Dangerously In Love , 2 from B'Day , 2 from I Am... Sasha Fierce , 2 collaborations, 1 soundtrack song, 1 Destiny's Child song, and 6 other songs that are used as intros/interludes that Beyoncé does not perform.

• " No Angel " (video intro) (contains elements of "Formation)
• " Formation "
• " Sorry " (contains elements of "I'm Sorry")
• " Kitty Kat " (a capella version) *
• " Irreplaceable " (a capella version) *
• " Irremplazable " *
• " Bow Down " (contains elements of "Tom Ford")
• " Run The World (Girls) "
• " Superpower " (video interlude) (containing elements of "Made It")
• " Mine " (contains elements of "Standing on the Sun Remix")
• " Baby Boy " (contains elements of "Freaks")
• " Hold Up " (contains elements of "Bam Bam")
• " Countdown " (contains elements of "Pop My Trunk")
• " Me, Myself and I "
• " Runnin' (Lose It All) "
• " All Night "
• " 6 Inch " *
• " I Care " (video interlude) (contains elements of " Ghost ", "New Slaves", "The Hills" and "6 Inch" )
• " Don't Hurt Yourself "
• " Ring the Alarm " (contains elements of "Five to One", "Ring the Alarm (Tenor Saw song)", "Independent Woman Part I", "Lost Yo Mind", "Naughty Girl" and " I Been On ")
• " Diva " (contains elements of "U Mad", "Still Tippin'", "Panda" "Cut It", "Man", "I Got The Keys" and "Dey Know")
• " Flawless (Remix) "
• "Feeling Myself"
• " Drunk in Love " (contains elements of "Swimming Pools (Drank)")
• " Partition " *
• "Hip Hop Star" / " Freakum Dress" (video interlude)
• "Daddy Lessons"
• " Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) " *
• " Love On Top "
• "The Beautiful Ones" *
• "Purple Rain" (video interlude with the original recording)
• " Crazy in Love " (contains elements of the 2014 Remix and excerpts from "Bootylicious")
• " Naughty Girl "
• " Party " (contains elements of "La Di Da Di")
• " Blow " (contains elements of "Give It to Me Baby" and "Nasty Girl") *
• " Sweet Dreams " (contains elements of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") *
• "Die With You" (video interlude) (contains elements of "Blue")
• " Freedom "
• " End of Time " (contains elements of "Grown Woman")

Songs marked with an asterisk (*) were not performed at every date.

Tour dates [ ]

a. The show on June 14, 2016 in Detroit, United States was originally scheduled to take place on May 29, 2016, but was postponed due to scheduling changes.

b. The show on October 2, 2016 in Nashville, United States was originally scheduled to take place on May 5, 2016, but was rescheduled for unknown reasons.

c. The show on October 7, 2016 in East Rutherford, United States was originally scheduled to take place on September 7, 2016, but was rescheduled due to doctor's order for vocal rest.

Merchandise [1] [ ]

Clothing [ ].

Accessories [ ]

• ↑ https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/beyonce-boycott-formation-tour-merch
• 2 Renaissance
• 3 Cowboy Carter

BEYONCÉ ANNOUNCES THE FORMATION WORLD TOUR

LOS ANGELES , Feb. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ —  BEYONCÉ announced THE FORMATION WORLD TOUR today following her appearance during SuperBowl 50. The highly-anticipated tour, promoted by Live Nation, presented by American Express and produced by Parkwood Entertainment, will kick off in North America on April 27 in Miami, Fla. at Marlins Park with 21 additional stadium dates lined up throughout the country including New York City , Los Angeles , Chicago , Toronto , Philadelphia , Dallas and more. The European leg of THE FORMATION WORLD TOUR will start on June 28 in Sunderland, United Kingdom at Stadium of Light. Additional European stadium dates include London , Manchester , Zurich , Amsterdam , Paris , Milan , Stockholm , Frankfurt and more. A full list of tour dates and venues is below.

Tickets will go on sale starting Monday, Feb. 15 in Europe and Tuesday, Feb. 16 in North America (full on sale schedule provided at end of release). Beyhive members may purchase tickets in advance beginning Tuesday, Feb. 9 and Monday, Feb. 15 for shows going on sale on Feb. 22 .

True to her life’s work of always giving back, fans will be given the opportunity to participate in Beyoncé’s #BeyGOOD initiative supporting local United Way programs and the continued work surrounding the water crisis in Flint , Michigan. United Way of Genesee County has been at the forefront of distributing thousands of filtration pitchers, faucet mount filters, replacement cartridges and truckloads of water to underserved populations to address immediate needs in Flint Michigan . They are also partnering with the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to create a fund that will address long-term developmental, education, nutrition and health needs of the children affected by the Flint Water Crisis. Follow @beygood on Twitter for more information.

As Beyoncé wants to present her fans with the best possible experience at the concerts, she has joined forces with THX ® Ltd to provide the highest quality audio experience during THE FORMATION WORLD TOUR . THX has assessed, optimized and certified that the acoustic systems used at the concerts are without peer. With this association, concert-goers will get the best acoustic experience possible at any large-venue event.

THE FORMATION WORLD TOUR is BEYONCÉ’s first solo tour since her ambitious Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013. The sold-out tour spanning two years and five continents thrilled nearly two million fans and was hailed by critics worldwide. During the summer of 2014, BEYONCÉ and JAY Z launched the six-week ON THE RUN Tour, playing major stadiums in the US. They ended the tour in Paris, France in September 2014 with two additional dates that were filmed for an HBO Special that was nominated for an Emmy Award.

In addition to the Beyhive presale, American Express® Card Members will also have the opportunity to purchase tickets for the tour prior to the general on sale date.

“American Express has a longstanding relationship with Beyoncé and we are thrilled to partner with her again for the upcoming Formation World Tour ,” said Walter Frye , Vice President, Global Experiential Marketing, American Express. “We are proud to bring our Card Members around the world closer to Beyoncé – a global icon and an artist we know they love – with access to purchase tickets for her tour before the general public.”

American Express Card Members can purchase tickets for Miami , Tampa , Dallas , San Diego , Los Angeles , Edmonton , Toronto , Chicago , Boston , Philadelphia, New York , Baltimore & Hershey beginning Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 12:00 p.m. local through Sunday, Feb. 14 at 5:00 p.m. local. American Express Card Members can purchase tickets for Atlanta , Raleigh , Nashville , Houston , San Francisco , Seattle , Minneapolis , Detroit and Pittsburgh beginning Monday, Feb. 15 (at 12:00 p.m. through Saturday, Feb. 20  at 5:00 p.m. local. 

American Express Card Members can purchase tickets for Beyoncé’s The Formation World Tour 2016 in the United Kingdom , Ireland, * France , Italy , the Netherlands , Sweden , before the general public from 12:00 p.m. Tuesday , 9 Feb. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday , 13 Feb. ( France pre-sale ends Friday, 12-Feb. @ 5pm ).  American Express Card Members can purchase tickets for Germany before the general public from 12:00 p.m. Monday , 15 Feb. to 5pm p.m. Friday, 19 Feb. local time.

BEYONCÉ – THE FORMATION WORLD TOUR

All dates, cities and venues below subject to change.

For complete tour and ticketing information, visit www.livenation.com and www.beyonce.com

About Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, Artist Nation Management and Live Nation Media/Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com .

About Parkwood Entertainment Parkwood Entertainment is an entertainment and management company founded by entertainer and entrepreneur, Beyoncé in 2010.  With headquarters in New York City the company houses departments in music and video production , management, marketing, digital, creative, philanthropy, publicity and a newly formed record label.  Under its original name, Parkwood Pictures, in 2008, the company released the film  Cadillac Records  (2008), in which Beyoncé starred and co-produced. The company also released the film, Obsessed (2009), with Beyoncé as star and executive producer. Parkwood Entertainment produced The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour (2013-2014) and co-produced the ON THE RUN TOUR (2014).

About American Express American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress , foursquare.com/americanexpress , linkedin.com/company/american-express , twitter.com/americanexpress , and youtube.com/americanexpress .

Key links to products and services: charge and credit cards , business credit cards , Plenti rewards program , travel services , gift cards , prepaid cards , merchant services , corporate card , business travel and corporate responsibility .

About THX Founded by legendary filmmaker George Lucas in 1983, THX and their partners provide premium entertainment experiences in the cinema, in the home and on the go. THX develops audio-video and environmental designs, technologies, products and specifications to ensure an artist’s vision is truthfully delivered to audiences worldwide.

About United Way With 2.9 million volunteers and 10.3 million donors worldwide, and more than $5 billion raised every year, United Way is the world’s largest privately-funded nonprofit. We’re engaged in nearly 1,800 communities across more than 40 countries and territories worldwide to create community solutions that improve education, income and health. United Way partners include global, national and local businesses, nonprofits, government, civic and faith organizations, along with educators, labor leaders, health providers, senior citizens, students and more. For more information about United Way, please visit  UnitedWay.org . Follow us on Twitter: @UnitedWayand #LiveUnited

Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160207/330441

For Beyoncé Press, North America and Europe, contact: Yvette Noel-Schure, Schure Media, [email protected] , For Beyoncé Press, UK, contact: Carl Fysh, Purple PR, [email protected] , For Live Nation, contact: Victor Trevino, [email protected] , For American Express, Contact: Bradley Minor, [email protected]

Read more about

Beyonce announces The Formation World Tour

Beyoncé unveiled a stadium tour Sunday night, just moments after wrapping her epic Super Bowl halftime show with Coldplay and Bruno Mars.

The Formation World Tour kicks off April 27 in Miami, hitting cities nationwide including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia. It ends June 12 in Hershey, Penn., before a string of European dates get underway June 28. Tickets go on sale beginning Tuesday for American Express and Beyhive fan club members, and to the general public starting Feb. 16.

Review: Beyonce upstages Coldplay in Super Bowl halftime show

The announcement comes just a day after she released her politically charged and critically acclaimed new single  Formation , in which she owns her black identity and Southern heritage, and endorses the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

Along with the tour, the singer also launched a new initiative to aid the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. "True to her life’s work of always giving back, fans will be given the opportunity to participate in Beyoncé’s #BeyGOOD initiative supporting local United Way programs," Live Nation released in a statement, announcing that the United Way of Genesee County will partner with the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to "create a fund that will address long-term developmental, education, nutrition and health needs of the children affected by the Flint Water Crisis."

Beyoncé last toured the USA with her husband, rapper Jay Z, on the six-week On the Run Tour in summer 2014, which was filmed for a HBO special. The Formation World Tour is her first solo jaunt since the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013.

Watch the trailer for the Formation tour below:

The full list of dates:

April 27 — Miami, Marlins Park

April 29 — Tampa, Raymond James Stadium

May 1 — Atlanta, Georgia Dome

May 3 — Raleigh, Carter-Finley Stadium

May 5 — Nashville, Nissan Stadium

May 7 — Houston, NRG Stadium

May 9 — Dallas, AT&T Stadium

May 12 — San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium

May 14 — Los Angeles, Rose Bowl

May 16 — Santa Clara, Calif., Levi's Stadium

May 18 — Seattle, CenturyLink Field

May 20 — Edmonton, Alberta, Commonwealth Stadium

May 23 — Minneapolis, TCF Bank Stadium

May 25 — Toronto, Rogers Centre

May 27 — Chicago, Soldier Field

May 29 — Detroit, Ford Field

May 31 — Pittsburgh, Heinz Field

June 3 — Boston, Gillette Stadium

June 5 — Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field

June 7 — New York, Citi Field

June 10 — Baltimore, M&T Bank Stadium

June 12 — Hershey, Penn., Hersheypark Stadium

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Beyonce Announces ‘Formation’ World Tour Following Super Bowl Show

By Jerry Portwood

Jerry Portwood

One day after surprise-releasing a new song and video ,  Beyoncé  followed her Super Bowl 50 halftime show performance with news of the Formation World Tour.

The tour is the singer’s first solo trek since her ambitious Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013. It kicks off April 27th in Miami, Florida at Marlins Park, with an additional 21 stadium dates that include New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, Dallas. The European leg of the tour starts June 28th in Sunderland, U.K. at Stadium of Light and includes dates in London, Manchester, Zurich, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Stockholm, Frankfurt and more.

Bey debuted “Formation” live Sunday at Santa Clara, California’s Levi’s Stadium dressed in a tight black jumpsuit with gold military “ammunition” that seemed to reference Michael Jackson’s signature look from the Eighties. Bruno Mars, another previous Super Bowl halftime show headliner, also appeared during Coldplay’s set.

“Formation” is available to stream and download for free exclusively through Tidal .

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Beyoncé Formation World Tour Dates

April 27 – Miami @ Marlins Park April 29 – Tampa @ Raymond James Stadium May 1 – Atlanta @ Georgia Dome May 3 – Raleigh @ Carter-Finley Stadium May 5 – Nashville @ Nissan Stadium May 7 – Houston @ NRG Stadium May 9 – Dallas @ AT&T Stadium May 12 – San Diego @ Qualcomm Stadium May 14 – Los Angeles @ Rose Bowl May 16 – Santa Clara @ Levi’s Stadium May 18 – Seattle @ CenturyLink Field May 20 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Commonwealth Stadium May 23 – Minneapolis @ TCF Bank Stadium May 25 – Toronto @ Rogers Centre May 27 – Chicago @ Soldier Field May 29 – Detroit @ Ford Field May 31 – Pittsburgh @ Heinz Field June 3 – Boston @ Gillette Stadium June 5 – Philadelphia @ Lincoln Financial Field June 7 – New York City @ Citi Field June 10 – Baltimore @ M&T Bank Stadium June 12 – Hershey @ Hersheypark Stadium June 28 – Sunderland, UK @ Stadium of Light June 30 – Cardiff, UK @ Millennium Stadium July 2 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium July 5 – Manchester, UK @ Emirates Old Trafford July 7 – Glasgow, UK @ Hampden Park July 9 – Dublin, Ireland @ Croke Park July 12 – Dusseldorf, Germany @ Esprit Arena July 14 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Letzigrund July 16 – Amsterdam @ Arena July 18 – Milan, Italy @ Stadio San Siro July 21 – Paris @ Stade de France July 24 – Copenhagen @ Parken July 26 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Friends Arena July 29 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Commerzbank Arena July 31 – Brussels, Belgium @ Roi Boudoin

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Here's The Full List Of Dates For Beyonce's 'Formation' World Tour

Needless to say, the highlight of last night's gridiron game had absolutely nothing to do with football. Rather, it was  Beyoncé and Bruno Mars  that stole the show, delivering one the best halftime performances in recent memory, performing a live and direct mash-up of Bey's surprise weekend release "Formation" and Mars' smash hit "Uptown Funk." It was announced during the halftime show that Beyonce had revealed the dates for a summer world tour. And so, with a little assistance for the Bey Hive, we've compiled all of the  Formation World Tour  stops into one list for you anxious hearts. Peep the full set of dates for Beyonce's tour below along with the jaw-dropping clip for "Formation." Tickets go on-sale next Tuesday, February 16th via Live Nation .

Tour Dates: 

April 27th @ Marlins Park - Miami, FL

April 29th @ Raymond James Stadium - Tampa, FL

May 1st @ Georgia Dome - Atlant, GA

May 3rd @ Carter-Finely Stadium - Raleigh, NC

May 5th @ Nissan Stadium - Nashville, TN

May 7th @ NRG Stadium - Houston, TX

May 9th @ AT&T Stadium - Dallas, TX

May 12th @ Quaicomm Stadium - San Diego, CA

May 14th @ Rose Bowl - Los Angeles, CA

May 16th @ Levi's Stadium - Santa Clara, CA

May 18th @ CenturyLink Field - Seattle, WA

May 20th @ Commonwealth Stadium - Edmonton, AB

May 23rd @ TCF Bank Stadium - Minneapolis, MN

May 25th @ Rogers Center - Toronto, ON

May 27th @ Soldier Field - Chicago, IL

May 29th @ Ford Field - Detroit, MI

May 31st @ Heinz Field - Pittsburgh, PA

June 3rd @ Gilette Stadium - Boston, MA

June 5th @ Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia, PA

June 7th @ Citi Field - New York, NY

June 10th @ M&T Bank Stadium - Baltimore, MD

June 12th @ Hershey Park Stadium - Hershey, PA

June 28th @ Stadium Of Light - Sunderland, UK

June 30th @ Millennium Stadium - Cardiff, UK

July 2nd @ Wembley Stadium - London, UK

July 5th @ Emirates Old Trafford - Manchester, UK

July 7th @ Hampden Park - Glasgow, UK

July 9th @ Croke Park - Dublin, IE

July 12th @ Espirit Arena - Dusseldorf, DE

July 14th @ Letzigrund - Zurich, CH

July 16th @ Arena - Amsterdam, NE

July 18th @ Stadio San Siro - Milan, IT

July 21st @ Stade de France - Paris, FR

July 24th @ Parken - Copenhagen, DK

July 26th @ Friends Arena - Stockholm, SE

July 29th @ Commerzbank Arena - Frankfurt, DE

July 31st @ Roi Boudoi - Brussels, BE

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Beyonce Announces ‘Formation’ Tour Dates

Following the surprise release of her new single and video "Formation," Beyonce has announced a world tour starting this spring by the same name. Beyonce took the Super Bowl halftime stage Sunday night (Feb. 7) to perform parts of "Formation" and let her tour announcement go shortly after.

Tickets will be available to Beyhive members via presale on Feb. 9, while general public ticket sales open on Feb. 15 for her European dates and Feb. 16 for her North American ones. Fans will also be given the opportunity to join Beyonce's #BeyGOOD effort by supporting local United Way programs and the efforts being made to remedy the water crisis in Flint, Mich.

Check out the full list of dates below.

North America

April 27 – Miami, FL – Marlins Park April 29 – Tampa – Raymond James Stadium May 1 – Atlanta, GA – Georgia Dome May 3 – Raleigh, NC – Carter-Finley Stadium May 5 – Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium May 7 – Houston, TX – NRG Stadium May 9 – Dallas, TX – AT&T Stadium May 12 – San Diego, CA – Qualcomm Stadium May 14 – Los Angeles, CA – Rose Bowl May 16 – Santa Clara, CA – Levi’s Stadium May 18 – Seattle, WA – CenturyLink Field May 20 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium May 23 – Minneapolis, MN – TCF Bank Stadium May 25 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre May 27 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field May 29 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field May 31 – Pittsburgh, PA – Heinz Field June 3 – Boston, MA – Gillette Stadium June 5 – Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field June 7 – New York, NY – Citi Field June 10 – Baltimore, MD – M&T Bank Stadium June 12 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium

June 28 – Sunderland, UK – Stadium of Light June 30 – Cardiff, UK – Millennium Stadium July 2 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium July 5 – Manchester, UK – Emirates Old Trafford July 7 – Glasgow, UK – Hampden Park July 9 – Dublin, IE – Croke Park July 12 – Dusseldorf, DE – Esprit Arena July 14 – Zurich, CH – Letzigrund July 16 – Amsterdam, NE – Arena July 18 – Milan, IT – Stadio San Siro July 21 – Paris, FR – Stade de France July 24 – Copenhagen, DK – Parken July 26 – Stockholm, SE – Friends Arena July 29 – Frankfurt, DE – Commerzbank Arena July 31 – Brussels, BE – Roi Boudoin

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How Do You Get Beyoncé to Send You Flowers?

C all her Bee-yoncé, the way she can’t stay away from bouquets. From the 50,000 to 60,000 white orchids that reportedly decorated her wedding with Jay-Z to the blooming background of her second pregnancy reveal, flowers have been a consistent part of Beyoncé’s brand long before she ran for BOTUS .

No one can accuse her of keeping them to herself, though. Beyoncé has developed a reputation for sending floral arrangements to other people so frequently that stans joke the hardest worker in Hollywood is her florist. And that’s just based on the deliveries we know about (we’re sure Mama Tina, for example, has gotten flowers from her daughter many more times than we’ve seen ). But don’t worry, there (probably) isn’t actually one overworked person pumping out an arrangement for everybody Bey appreciates. As evidenced by company logos in the cards attached to the flowers, she’s hired florists from Pennsylvania to Australia. Wherever you are, if she wants to give you your flowers, she will.

So, who’ll be the first to receive them from Cowboy Bey? Ahead of her next album, we analyzed every publicly shared Bey bouquet. Here’s a full rundown of everyone who’s gotten one, along with the six main reasons why. If you’re a celebrity and check one of the following areas, your chances of becoming the next recipient might be higher than you think.

If it wasn’t already clear from her find-every-rare-celebrity-baby-photo era , Beyoncé takes birthdays very seriously. 

➽ Tina Knowles

➽ Natalia and Vanessa Bryant

➽ Halle Bailey

➽ Olivier Rousteing

➽ Yvette Noel-Schure

➽ Missy Elliott

➽ Marsai Martin

➽ Kim Kardashian

➽ Bianca Lawson

Not only does Beyoncé celebrate when her friends get a year older, she also sends flowers to thank others who commemorate her own trips around the sun. These four all also happened to have worked with her on Black Is King .

➽ GuiltyBeatz

➽ NOVA Wav (Brittany “Chi” Coney and Denisia “Blu June” Andrews)

2. Baby Boy(s and Girls)

Beyoncé likes to celebrate new additions to a family — not surprising for a mother of three. Maybe it’s for early networking, considering her own firstborn has grown up to be a mini manager ?

➽ DJ Khaled , after the birth of his son, Asahd.

➽ Katy Perry , after the birth of her daughter (who has the appropriately floral name Daisy Dove Bloom) with Orlando Bloom.

➽ Keyshia Ka’oir and Gucci Mane , after welcoming their first baby together, Ice. (Bey threw in a Tiffany & Co. fork and spoon set too.)

➽ Warsan Shire , the poet quoted in Lemonade , after the births of each of her two children.

3. Well Wishes

The saddest reason to hear from Beyoncé by far, these bouquets come after injury, illness, or death. 

➽ Chelsea Lee James ’s family, after their daughter, a Beyoncé fan, died at age 15 following a decadelong battle with cancer. Bey previously brought her onstage and dedicated “Halo” to her during a 2009 concert and later reunited backstage with her in 2013.

➽ Lady Gaga , after she revealed that she has fibromyalgia and decided to postpone her 2017 European tour.

➽ Megan Thee Stallion , while she was recovering from being shot in the foot by Tory Lanez.

➽ Lyric Chanel , a young fan with brain cancer and anaplastic ependymoma, after having surgery and posting a throwback video of herself singing “Love on Top.”

➽ The Bryant family , seemingly to mark the first anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s death. Beyoncé performed at his memorial service the year before.

➽ Tori Kelly , after she reportedly collapsed due to blood clots. She later shared that flowers from Beyoncé were waiting for her when she returned from the hospital. (Kelly didn’t say which bouquet was from whom when she shared a photo of multiple deliveries, but our money’s on the white ones.)

➽ Honey Balenciaga , after getting “carried away” while dancing in the Renaissance world tour and having to take a break from performing to rest.

4. Career Moves

Beyoncé, the most-awarded artist in Grammys history and the first Black woman to hit No. 1 on Billboard ’s country chart, is constantly setting new records, so she is sure to congratulate others for their own career milestones and history-making achievements. 

➽ Ben Platt , after concluding his run in Dear Evan Hansen . (Beyoncé previously came to a performance of the musical after weeks of Platt public groveling. )

➽ Andra Day , after she became the second Black woman to ever win Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama at the Golden Globes .

➽ Taylor Swift , after becoming the first female artist to win Album of the Year three times at the Grammys. In a departure from Bey’s signature white arrangements, this colorful bouquet appeared to be inspired by the floral Oscar de la Renta dress Swift wore to the 2021 ceremony.

➽ Michaela Coel , after becoming the first Black woman to win an Emmy for Best Writing in a Limited Series for I May Destroy You . “I don’t even know how she got my address,” Coel recalled, adding, “I said thank you just in case she could hear me.”

➽ Katie Couric , after publishing her memoir, Going There .

➽ Chlöe Bailey , after making Beyoncé “proud” with her first BET Awards performance as a solo act.

➽ Nicki Minaj , after thanking both Jay-Z and Beyoncé in her acceptance speech for the 2022 VMA Video Vanguard Award.

➽ Sheryl Lee Ralph , after becoming the second Black woman to ever win an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Beyoncé sent her congratulations with a bouquet addressed to “the original Dreamgirl.”

➽ Chlöe Bailey , after releasing her debut solo album, In Pieces .

➽ SZA , after winning three awards at the 2024 Grammys. Coco Jones , who won Best R&B Performance, also received flowers (“@beyonce you know where i live?? come over for scones 😭,” she wrote on Instagram). Victoria Monét didn’t post about it, but later told Variety that Beyoncé sent flowers to toast her Grammys success as well.

➽ Nicki Minaj , after launching her press-on line, Pink Friday Nails and sending Beyoncé a set.

5. Work Friends

If you collaborate with Beyoncé or meet her at an industry event, you might get flowers and a note (which conveniently doubles as promo if posted). 

➽ Reese Witherspoon , after asking Beyoncé and Jay-Z for Champagne when her table at the Golden Globes ran out of water. The Carters later sent her a bouquet of flowers … plus a case of Jay-Z’s Ace of Spades Champagne with a note jokingly explaining, “More water.”

➽ Megan Thee Stallion , after her “Savage” remix with Beyoncé topped Billboard ’s “Hot 100” and earned Meg her first No. 1.

➽ Kaash Paige , for being “so incredible at the shoot,” in seeming reference to a 2021 Ivy Park promo video she starred in.

➽ Kennedi Carter , after shooting Beyoncé for British Vogue and becoming the youngest cover photographer in the history of the publication at age 21.

➽ Robin S received a bouquet after an interview in which she thanked Beyoncé for sampling her on “Break My Soul” and “giving me my flowers while I’m still alive.”

➽ Madonna , after the release of “Break My Soul (The Queens Remix),” for which she gave Beyoncé permission to sample “Vogue.”

➽ Syd , who co-wrote “Plastic Off the Sofa,” got the Beyhive buzzing about Renaissance visuals after she received flowers for “contributing so much to the film.”

➽ Coi Leray got a floral co-sign from Beyoncé, who called her a “very talented young lady” after DJ Khaled brought her out on the first night of the Renaissance tour. 2 Chainz , one of the other guests in Khaled’s opening set, also received flowers for “murder[ing] the stage.”

6. You Gave Her Flowers

That’s supposed to be her thing! 

➽ Jenna Wortham , a New York Times Magazine writer, for praising “Formation” after its release. Beyoncé thanked Wortham for her “beautiful words” and for “understanding my heart.”

➽ Laverne Cox , after dressing up as Beyoncé and performing “Lose My Breath” on Lip Sync Battle . “Thank you for blessing this world with your slayage,” Bey said.

➽ Ts Madison , whose voice is sampled on “Cozy,” for making Beyoncé a birthday song with Kevin Jz Prodigy.

➽ Ts Madison , Victoria Monét , Gabrielle Union , and Winnie Harlow , for attending the Renaissance film’s Beverly Hills premiere.

➽ Vivica A. Fox , for attending the Renaissance film’s London premiere. In addition to flowers and Ce Noir perfume, Fox also got a lengthier card from Beyoncé, who expressed “gratitude, love, and respect.”

➽ Renée Rapp , after covering “Daddy Lessons” while touring in Paris.

➽ Gayle King , after spotlighting Beyoncé’s hair-care line, Cécred, during a segment on CBS.

➽ Zoë Erianna , a former America’s Got Talent contestant, for posting an Instagram video of her figuring out the notes to cover “Texas Hold ’Em” on piano. The rendition brought Beyoncé “so much joy” that she sent the 7-year-old a bouquet telling her to “keep it up!!!”

• Beyoncé Is the First Black Woman to Earn a Country No. 1