From Queen Bey to rock royalty as she takes Glastonbury by storm.
Beyoncé Knowles, renowned for being a member of “Destiny’s Child” in the late ’90s, swiftly became well-known as a solo performer and mesmerized the music business with her extraordinary talent.
While her 2003 debut album, “Dangerously in Love,” established her as a powerful solo performer, it was her stunning performance at the prestigious Glastonbury Festival in 2011 that gave her the sense of being a true superstar or rockstar rather.
Beyoncé had already accumulated a plethora of experience playing at several prestigious music festivals prior to her spectacular Glastonbury performance. She graced the stages of renowned radio-hosted festivals, including KIIS-FM Jingle Ball, z100 Jingle Ball, and WGCI-FM Big Jam in 2003, as she launched her solo career.
She wowed the crowd in 2006 at the BBC Radio 1 The Chart Show Live with her powerful singing. In the years leading up to her Glastonbury performance, the Houston-born superstar took on other notable festivals like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2007 and the Bermuda Music Festival in 2008.
Although Beyoncé eventually returned to Glastonbury with concerts at the Global Citizen Festival and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, none of these occasions had the same degree of notoriety and magnificence as the legendary festival.
Beyoncé opened up about performing at the festival in a 2011 interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, which was conducted the day following her Glastonbury achievement. She noted the significance of being the first woman to perform as the festival’s headlining act and explained how this achievement gave the event an extra depth of surrealism.
“I’m still walking on the clouds. I’m still kind of shocked. I can’t believe what happened to me happened yesterday. And I think it’s because I’ve seen Glastonbury in photographs, and I’ve seen it when I’ve traveled here and on television,” she said.
“And only amazing rock stars perform. And it’s just the coolest festival. And I was able to see my husband perform there a couple of years ago. And it was one of the most exciting nights.”
Indeed, Beyoncé’s husband, Jay-Z, performed as the main act at Glastonbury in 2008. Ten years later, the power couple teamed together to co-headline the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100, which was hosted in New York.
Being the first female headliner at Glastonbury was a historic accomplishment in and of itself, but Beyoncé had never experienced a festival atmosphere like it in her career before. She also discussed the festival’s uniqueness in depth during her interview with Piers Morgan, outlining how it distinguished itself from previous performances.
“It’s the mud. It’s all the beautiful people. I loved it. It’s not about fashion. It’s not about trying to be cool. Everyone just is cool. That’s what I love about it. It’s not about your production. It’s not about how many hits you have,” she added.
“It’s about good music and everything coming from the inside, and everyone has so much love and appreciation for a good performance. And I love when I can not have to think about all the other things that are not as interesting, and I can just belt out the songs and dance from the heart, and I know that it’s appreciated.”
Beyoncé will keep challenging conventions and pushing the boundaries of her work well into the year 2023 and beyond. She has continuously produced chart-topping singles over the course of her career, spanning decades.
She will definitely continue to enthrall festival audiences for many years to come, but Glastonbury will always have a particular place in her career and heart since it was the turning point that established her as a real rockstar.