Beyonce covers the October issue of GQ. She’s blonde these days! The editorial is really sexy and va-va-voom. While Beyonce’s haircare line (Cécred) gets a shoutout, Beyonce is mostly promoting her new whiskey line, SirDavis. For many years now, Beyonce flatly refuses to do traditional interviews, but she will now email with magazine journalists, which is how GQ got an interview with her. She’s very funny, and I suspect she just prefers time to gather her thoughts and edit herself, thus the email Q&A. You can see the full piece here. Some highlights:
Her life & her diet these days: “Our home is alive with cousins and friends, spontaneous talent shows, and the clatter of dominoes. I’ve been trying to focus on my health, taking my supplements, and eating very clean. I’ve given up meat, except for turkey, this summer.
Why she launched her own whiskey line: “I’ll never forget the first day I had whiskey. It spoke to me nice. I remember thinking, Why have I never had this before? It was strong and warm, just the right amount of challenge. I loved the process, the ritual of it. Whiskey isn’t something you just shoot down. It’s a commitment. You gotta have patience. I like that. Then I got into vintage Japanese whiskey and started doing tastings. It opened up a whole new world. I love everything about whiskey. The color, the smell, the way it dances in the glass.… And I love the stories that come with it. Every bottle has a history. I also like introducing whiskey to people who don’t know they love it yet. I think a lot more women would love it if they tasted it, and if they were really spoken to by the whiskey world. Whiskey isn’t just for old men in smoky bars; it’s for anyone who appreciates depth, complexity, and a bit of mystery.
Why she named her album ‘Cowboy Carter’: “I wanted everyone to take a minute to research on the word cowboy. History is often told by the victors. And American history? It’s been rewritten endlessly. Up to a quarter of all cowboys were Black. These men faced a world that refused to see them as equal, yet they were the backbone of the cattle industry. The cowboy is a symbol of strength and aspiration in America. The cowboy was named after slaves who handled the cows. The word cowboy comes from those who were called boys, never given the respect they deserved. No one would dare call a Black man handling cows “Mister” or “Sir.”
She doesn’t want people to have access to her kids: “ One thing I’ve worked extremely hard on is making sure my kids can have as much normalcy and privacy as possible, ensuring my personal life isn’t turned into a brand. It’s very easy for celebrities to turn our lives into performance art. I have made an extreme effort to stay true to my boundaries and protect myself and my family. No amount of money is worth my peace.”
Raising three kids: “I build my work schedule around my family. I try to only tour when my kids are out of school. I always dreamt of a life where I could see the world with my family and expose them to different languages, architecture, and lifestyles. Raising three kids isn’t easy. The older they get, the more they become their own individuals with unique needs, hobbies, and social lives. My twins are God-sent. Parenting constantly teaches you about yourself. It takes a lot of prayer and patience. I love it. It’s grounding and fulfilling.
On not releasing visuals for her last two albums: “I thought it was important that during a time where all we see is visuals, that the world can focus on the voice. The music is so rich in history and instrumentation. It takes months to digest, research, and understand. The music needed space to breathe on its own. Sometimes a visual can be a distraction from the quality of the voice and the music. The years of hard work and detail put into an album that takes over four years! The music is enough. The fans from all over the world became the visual. We all got the visual on tour. We then got more visuals from my film.
What music she’s listening to these days: “I love and respect all of the female singers-songwriters who are out right now.… Raye, Victoria Monét, Sasha Keable, Chloe x Halle, and Reneé Rapp. I love Doechii and GloRilla, and I just heard That Mexican OT, he’s from Houston…. He goes hard! I really like “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter, and I think that Thee Sacred Souls and Chappell Roan are talented and interesting..But the truth is, I spend most of my time listening to the classics, like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and music from artists on the Stax label. I just watched that documentary. It’s so good! I highly recommend it. The best movie I’ve seen this year is Inside Out 2. I think it’s brilliant, and I’m currently watching House of the Dragon and The Chi.
I just read a theory online, from a member of the Beyhive, about Beyonce’s answer on the no-visuals thing. It really is bizarre, because as she began to promote Act i: Renaissance, it felt like she was teasing a larger visual project. Maybe not on the scale of Lemonade, but definitely more visuals than what we got (bupkis). Anyway, the theory was that Beyonce fully intended to release videos or some kind of visual project to accompany Renaissance, but something happened and she didn’t like whatever got produced. Beyonce is famously a detail-oriented perfectionist, so it makes perfect sense to me that she tried to produce something, didn’t like it and then just pretended that she was never going to do any visuals. Maybe Cowboy Carter was different – she was like, hey, after what happened with Renaissance, why bother? What’s weird is that I would have much preferred visuals for Cowboy Carter. There are so many songs which are crying out for amazing music videos.
Cover & IG courtesy of GQ.
I don’t know about other people but after I’ve seen the video the first time I just listen to music instead of watching the video. So the visuals would have been nice but they’re not necessary, at least for me.
I dont know if it’s my age but I dont care for videos at all anymore,I used to literally watch vh1 and MTV videos non stop,I wonder if the newer generation cares the way millennials did.
I think, people expected visuals like her Lemonade. It was premiered on HBO. She released some of it as music videos, but it was created as a whole musical film.
Same. I am solidly GenX, and I never feel the need to watch a video for a second time these days. I always gravitate towards the lyric videos, because I don’t want a repeat performance of singing “Hold me close, young Tony Danza” ever again.
For YEARS, until one of my friends laughed so hard she cried.
I love what she says about privacy and the kids.
Visuals are cool but I’m here for the music and the live performances. The RWT movie was a great visual that made perfect sense.
Come on.
https://people.com/blue-ivy-renaissance-tour-performance-pics-8407861
So, what? She is dancing, we don’t know anything about her kids. The concert was the first time I saw her since she was a toddler.
Email responses are not an interview. Most likely just carefully crafted by a publicist.
Right?! I was literally like, “that’s not Beyonce answering those questions.” Maybe they asked her the answers to some of them, but nah, that’s not Beyonce’s “voice”.
@Mimi, how is that not Beyonce’s voice? She gave multiple personal answers. It is okay if she doesn’t want to sit down for interviews anymore. When she was open and giving interviews, people were mocking her accent, intelligence. She might not want to subject herself to that after all these years in the industry.
If Beyonce is such a perfectionist, why would she let someone speak for her without approving that that is what she wants to say? Even if a publicist sketched out or formulated the answers, I can’t imagine that it would not contain the content that she wants. Obviously in email answers, a person can self-edit, but it’s up to the reader to interpret, read between the lines, whatever, if they are so inclined. There is no intermediary between the interviewee and the audience, so to speak because there is no immediate interaction between interviewer and interviewee.
Beyonce has been various types of blonde for a quarter century now. Though I have always liked when she rarely left her hair dark. I think the ice blonde is a little extreme and aging.
I hate this silver blonde on her.
“Sometimes a visual can be a distraction from the quality of the voice and the music. ”
I respect that point and I think it worked out great for these 2 projects. But, I also read some comments about dancers going for reshoots because Beyonce didn’t like the end result of the Renaissance’s visuals that she intended to release for the album. I think, some parts of it were used during the concert? She has always made sure that whatever she releases is perfect since it carries her name, which is her brand. So, I understand, if she changed her mind about releasing visuals if she thought they weren’t the same quality as the album. I didn’t hear anything about Cowboy Carter visuals though. There is a current theory that she may release visuals after the third part is completed for the whole project. It sounds like a wish from Beyhive though.
I actually wana try the whiskey but maybe it’ll have to be a Christmas gift😂
It looks silver grey to me not blonde. I think email interviews are fine. David sylvian does that too (look him up). It’s a smart way to be part of the solution by taking your time to answer wisely. There’s less pressure and you can edit your answers which is a godsend. And you know everything she says gets scrutinized and dissected, people trynna catch her out. This is smart of her.
The effects of alcohol on a women’s body are devastating.
Thank you for saying this.
She starts out talking about clean eating and focusing on her health and then promotes putting literal poison that depletes nutrition into her body.
I thought it was Tyra Banks at first.
REAL question…Is her husband going down with diddy? His name keeps popping up.
In legal docs? Because I only saw her haters wanting / wishing him to go down with Diddy, writing all kind of fantasies. If his name is anywhere near any lawsuits, please share.
@Sevenblue – Exactly. People are oddly obsessed with Jay-Z “going down” when he hasn’t been credibly accused by anyone and hasn’t been named in any legal documents. If he is guilty then he should go down but why are people wishing for him to be guilty? It feels like hate.
@OriginalLeigh, I don’t even like the guy 😭😭 I am parasocially sad Beyonce didn’t leave his cheating ass. But, it is another thing that people really wish for Jay-Z’s fall down. If there is a woman coming out with a story, I wouldn’t even hesitate to pray for his comeuppance. There isn’t one credible story on him to tie him to Diddy’s crimes.
“His name keeps popping up” because so many people are trying to stay relevant and appear knowledgeable to get advertising $$. Clicked on one video claiming “Ice Cube REVEALS Diddy Will SNITCH On Jay Z After Arrest!” only to discover that Ice Cube doesn’t like going to parties – seen one, seen ’em all, he says.
It’s an active and ongoing investigation with a search for additional Sean Combs’ victims — Homeland’s tip line and website was published in the DOJ news release. Full info on whoever is going down is yet to be known. Far more interesting to me is that the case is currently being handled by five (5) female AUSAs https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/sean-combs-charged-manhattan-federal-court-sex-trafficking-and-other-federal-offenses
I’m happy that the Harris-Walz campaign rallies have become the music video for “Freedom.”
To be honest, my worship of Beyonce has been shaken since all the Diddy stuff started coming out, especially when I remember all those stories about B taking and refusing to give credit and lashing out against other female artists. I read through this and had really mixed feelings, particularly when she talks about protecting her kids. I don’t know.
Beyonce is literally known as one of the nicest celebrities. All the celebrities (especially famous women) said nothing but how nice she is. How is she gonna be this famous this long without one credible account of misbehavior? There are many people who talk sh*t about her to the tabloids, saying they heard from other people, no one directly she worked with. I remember there was a time she was called “bossy” because people didn’t like she was giving orders, you know, as a black woman. You should maybe check your sources, where are you hearing these stories from?
Well, imbalance of power is a thing. Taking credit for writing a song when you didn’t actually write it is common practice in the music industry. Remember Dolly saying Elvis wanted half the credit for I will always love you just to sing it? Beyonce is known to do this, but it’s annoying that she refuses to admit it. Several writers have come out re Renaissance. I think that’s predatory. Like, adding one word to a lyric shouldn’t give you 25% origination for other people’s work. Re sabotaging other women, that is mostly the rumour mill, I guess. But so is a lot of stuff until it isn’t. I recall The Atlantic and Washington Post writing about her pseudo-feminism when Bow Down came out. I just hope that she wasn’t complicit in all this Diddy stuff, is all I’m saying. It all makes me sick to my stomach.
@Mina_Esq, you don’t know what you are talking about. The songwriting doesn’t just include the lyrics, but the melody itself. Beyonce is known as changing, adding melodies to her songs. That is what she is getting credit for. She always said her voice is her instrument, she is changing the song for her voice. I don’t see people talking sh*t about Max Martin or other producers taking credit for songwriting because they are doing the same thing, they contribute to the music, not the songwriting most of the time.
That is such a bad wig. And Beyonce quit giving real interviews after the Wendy Williams fiasco. Her image is tightly controlled and does not allow for spontaneity for fear it will ruin the illusion.
‘She doesn’t want people to have access to her kids: “ One thing I’ve worked extremely hard on is making sure my kids can have as much normalcy and privacy as possible’
Wait… what??
https://people.com/blue-ivy-renaissance-tour-performance-pics-8407861
Sorry, but so sick of these people talking out of both sides.
Molly. She didn’t say she wanted them kept under lock and key. They’re allowed to enjoy life. I don’t see any hypocrisy.
She eats “clean” (absolute rubbish) and then drinks alcohol, a LITERAL poison. Diet culture is so twisted.
Jay Z and Diddy. Emails are not interviews. Blonde/grey/silver hair. Not contributing to her own music. Too much hate for a Monday.
What in the photoshop have they done to her body in the photo? The boobs and the hips are ridiculous.
Yeah – she’s curvy, but she isn’t a cartoon. Yeesh.