Well, we got Barack Obama performing at a Kamala Harris rally before Beyoncé did. The Beyhive’s been burned before — in August, they were falsely led to believe that Bey had pulled up in Chicago to perform at the Democratic National Convention. While we still didn’t get a live taste of Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé did actually make an appearance at an October 25 rally in her hometown of Houston. During the event, which was focused on reproductive rights, she took the stage and endorsed Harris for president in front of thousands of people at the Shell Energy Stadium. “I’m not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said. “A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.” She was introduced by her own mom, Tina Knowles, as well as her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland. (“Houston, you already had a hand in creating Destiny,” Rowland quipped.)
During her four-and-a-half-minute speech, Beyoncé urged everyone watching to vote and specifically highlighted her belief that Texans have the power to “change the future.” And while some fans were hoping she would take the mic in the same way that Willie Nelson did when he performed two songs earlier in the rally, Beyoncé wanted to highlight a more metaphorical type of singing. “It’s time for America to sing a new song … are y’all ready to add your voice? Because I am,” she said. “So let’s do this!”
Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” has been used throughout the campaign trail, and it soundtracked Harris’s walk offstage at the end of the Houston rally. That’s the closest fans got to hearing her sing tonight. It’s not that Bey is against performing at political events; she previously did it at a Hillary Clinton campaign rally in 2016. But it does seem like we’re kind of running out of time for it to happen before this upcoming Election Day. Maybe Bey’s saving her voice in hopes of a celebratory inauguration performance?
