Beyoncé Knowles - Life is the Greatest Show on Earth

By AJ Roberts

Beyoncé Knowles for the past 20 years have taken the art of performance to the undeniable heights that solidified her name as “Queen Bey.” She entrances a crowd with her classic looks that emulates jazz goddess Billie Holiday and combined with the stage presence of the ethereal siren Diana Ross, while her irrefutable energy matched her horde of millennial fans, better known to most as “The Beyhive,” even Adele, a great singer in her own regard describes herself as an honorary member of the hive at the 59th Grammy Awards in 2016, after beating out Lemonade for the album of the year.

Like a beehive in a honeybee colony the larger the hive, the greater the possibility of producing an abundance of honey. The amount of honey her ardent supporters has contributed to her net worth attunes to the total of $355 million, while combating keyboard warriors willing to tarnish Queen Bey’s name. In 1981, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter was born to Mathew and Tina Knowles in Houston, Texas. She was the eldest of their three children, in the HBO documentary special, Life is but a Dream, she could remember at a young age the constant need to seek her father’s approval, an issue that would stay present in her mind and throughout the course of her award winning 30-year phenomenal career.

On the other hand, part of the magic that surrounds Beyoncé is her indisputable love and loyalty to her inner circle, and her determination to be better than she was yesterday. Hence, the loss of her father’s partnership, and the deterioration of her personal relationship that has improved recently as pictures of the two surfaced on her Instagram account in 2018. During this period of separation from her father, and according to her interview with HBO, left her struggling to acknowledge and deal with her depression and anxiety while leaving her feeling isolated at times.

She explained people are brainwashed by our current celebrity culture, which has influenced our musical tastes. As uttered by her own sentiments, fans are caught up in the branding and commercialization of the performer versus the music. Leading her to question whether commercial success was ever really her definitive goal, all the while she was denying her desire to write relatable music focusing on her ownership of being both a woman and accepting she was mad about the ongoing oppression of women. She believed herself to be a champion, and her anger against the patriarch was surmised by creating an album that became an anthem for Beyoncé fans, while recruiting new fans like myself as a lover of her music.

In 2014, the announcement of her feminist identification in bold letters at VMAs shocked the world as she stepped onto another platform leading to influence a new generation of young women and adding those new flocks of followers to her hive. Although her flawless performance in front of the word “FEMINIST” brought her some unexpected attention, it’s her declaration that created a new slew of female performers owning their feminists’ labels like Swift and Lorde and the coning of the term celebrity feminism. However, impactful their decision was to declare a label, Beyoncé noted that that the celebrity culture in America has changed the way we consume music and therefore, she wanted to focus on the empowering of her music to resonate with herself, and more importantly, her fans.

Her musical resume has been nothing short of an amazing feat as she has steadily ruled the airwaves for two decades, and in 2013 she was the first woman in history to reach No.1 with her first five studio albums according to Billboard Magazine. And on the release of her 5th album she sold over 615,000 copies in the U.S. in just 3 days, and over 825,000 globally. Interestingly, Beyoncé is an empath that pours every part of herself into her shows and desiring to create the most thrilling concert experience for her appreciative fans, this comes through in the amount of work and preparation she puts into her performances. On any given day before a concert or award ceremony, in a span of 12 hours, she’s meeting with her team for early morning rehearsals, and challenging them to come together and be part of something bigger than themselves and even her music, while calling on her faith to successfully guide their performance.

Conversely, Beyoncé’s life to the average person, oozes with wealth, and many would assume she has never seen a bad day. Recently, in her Netflix special, Homecoming, she asserted that as a mother of 3 and with the pregnancy of her twins she was bedridden to assist with the difficulties that amounted as her body was suffering. The drive to become the best at her craft, drove her to rehearse for 179 days before her concert in Coachella, which was 3 months after the birth of her children. Filling the need to express her shortcomings, she said, “I’m a mother, and my body doesn’t do the things it used to do, but I still push my body beyond its limits – limits I didn’t know I could reach.”

Jumping through the hurdles of her life, she stays on track because of her relationship with God, as she sought refuge in her faith, when she miscarried her first child. Even more, telling of her relationship with a higher power, as one of her most devastating life events was the broadcasting of her husband’s infidelity. Just recently, Jay Z became the first rap mogul to reach the net worth of a billion dollars. Building their empire as music royalty has been in the making for over a decade. However, when video surfaced of her sister Solange attacking Jay Z in an elevator proved to many that the rumors of his cheating prompted the young woman to protect her sister’s honor.

Adding fuel to the discord of her marriage was by her own admission with the infamous line in the song Sorry, which she wrote, “He better call Becky with the good hair.” Although, she has never formally addressed whether the rumors were true, she has openly admitted that the song was an anthem to her current attitude of reclaiming her life unapologetically, even with its mistakes and tragic events. Channeling her anger, also benefits her during performance day as she quoted in her HBO special saying, “I wish someone would piss me off […], the more mad, I am, the better the show.”

The depth of her pain is strewed throughout her music as writing and creating has helped with dealing with hurtful events. The rawness of her desired in conveying her feelings within her lyrics, attest to her constant struggle of how much she reveals about herself to the world watching her every move. A quiet, cerebral, and shy woman are descriptors her closest friends and family members have uttered about the pop star. When she comes out of her protective shell, she must overcome the obstacle of performing, but it’s on the stage that she thrives. Beyoncé recognizes that she’s living her wildest fantasies. In her mind, she’s producing the greatest show of her career every time she steps on stage.

Understanding the magnitude of her performances, she had to learn the balance of being fair, and not being polite when conveying her vision about her shows. Beyoncé acknowledged that her father as her manager protected her from making the hard choices, and she had the luxury of being kind and sweet without needing to immerse herself with the business side of her brand. When he stepped down, she realized that she needed that protection more than she cared to admit. But learning the business side of her career allows her ownership of her brand, and she’s known to have a bit of a dictatorial attitude when managing her team. Yet, her team, from production to the dancers work equally hard to meet her demands, because they care as much as she does in creating the best performances possible.

Beyoncé conveys that her life is amazing, the simplicity of being with her family and loved ones allows her to be the happiest person in the world. To her, everything she works for is enjoying seeing those that support her desire to bring success to shows and her brand. More importantly, her relationship with her husband Jay Z, regardless of those opinions about their marriage, she credits him in defining her as a woman, and a great artist, and gifting her with her 3 beautiful children. For Beyoncé, she is playing a smart part in her life, which is the greatest show on earth.