Beyoncé introduced a little country Christmas to her halftime present efficiency throughout the NFL’s Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens sport, armed with many methods up her sleeve.
The Grammy winner, 43, carried out songs from her Cowboy Carter album throughout her set at NRG Stadium in her hometown of Houston on Wednesday, December 25, in what was dubbed the “Christmas Recreation Day Beyoncé Bowl.”
Beyoncé arrived on the stage by way of horseback, galloping previous a storage of classic vehicles whereas sporting a white outsized fur coat with a coordinating cowboy hat and a diamond choker necklace. After renditions of “16 Carriages” and “Black Chook,” the singing icon strutted onto the sector for a showstopping efficiency of “Ya Ya,” becoming a sequined bodysuit. Beyoncé additionally sang “RIIVERDANCE” with Shaboozey, “LEVII’S Denims” with Publish Malone (sitting in a denim-covered truck), “Jolene” and “Texas Maintain ‘Em” that includes 12-year-old daughter Blue Ivy becoming a member of the backing dancers.
“It’s solely proper that we do ‘Texas Maintain ‘Em’ for the primary time in Houston, Texas on Christmas,” Beyoncé quipped in her introduction earlier than concluding, “Merry Christmas, God bless y’all.”
Whereas singing “Black Chook,” Beyoncé was joined by Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts, all of whom have been featured on the LP.
The Christmas Day halftime show, which aired on Netflix, marks the primary time Beyoncé sang Cowboy Carter songs dwell because the album’s March launch. Nonetheless, it’s not her first rodeo on the subject of the NFL as she beforehand headlined the 2013 Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans and returned to carry out alongside Coldplay and Bruno Mars throughout the 2016 Tremendous Bowl halftime present.
Earlier this yr, Beyoncé made historical past along with her Cowboy Carter album, venturing into the nation music style for the primary time in her profession after beforehand dominating the pop and R&B fields. Her single “Texas Maintain ‘Em” was the first song by a Black female artist to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Sizzling Nation Songs chart, and she or he turned the first Black woman ever to reach No. 1 on the Billboard High Nation Albums chart.
Regardless of its success, the venture nonetheless drew controversy, with some nation music radio stations ignoring fan requests to play the songs on air and the 2024 Nation Music Affiliation Awards fully snubbing the album.
Whereas accepting the Innovator Award from Stevie Surprise on the iHeartRadio Music Awards in April, Beyoncé called out “all of the document labels, each radio station [and] each awards present,” emphasizing that the music business must turn out to be “extra open to the enjoyment and liberation that comes from having fun with artwork with no preconceived notions.”
In her speech, Beyoncé defined, “Innovation begins with a dream. However then it’s important to execute that dream, and that street could be very bumpy. Being an innovator is saying what everybody believes is unimaginable.”
“Being an innovator usually means being criticized, which regularly will check your psychological power,” she added. “Being an innovator is leaning on religion and trusting that God will catch you and information you.”
Beyoncé additionally talked about a number of artists who’ve “devoted their lives and their artwork to creating shifts,” together with Tracy Chapman, Prince, Tina Turner and Michael Jackson.
She famous, “[They] defied any label positioned upon them, thanks for executing your dream so we may all observe.”