Beyoncé kicked off the Renaissance World Tour earlier this week in Stockholm, Sweden. Not only did the mother of three look phenomenal in custom bodysuits and captivating costumes, she also performed her latest album Renaissance in its entirety. Throughout her storied career, Bey is often referred to as the greatest performer alive. To support that claim, here are her best performances.
At the 46th Grammys in 2004, Beyoncé accompanied the late Prince for a performance of “Purple Rain.” The duo’s medley included “Baby I’m a Star,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Crazy in Love,” with the pair serving enough attitude for everyone in attendance that night.
Bey’s live 2007 film, The Beyoncé Experience Live, showed off the artist’s impeccable onstage skills. From her own solo hits to Destiny Child’s biggest singles, the film provides a spectacular look at the star’s stamina as well as her breathtaking all women 10-piece band.
At the 2008 Grammys, Queen Bey took the stage with the one and only Tina Turner. For the performance, she started off with a sexy and jazzed up version of “Crazy in Love” before the pair did an energetic rendition of “Proud Mary.”
During the 2010 Grammys, Beyoncé broke a record by bringing home six awards. That wasn’t the only memorable moment from the night; the singer impressed the crowd with a performance of “If I Were a Boy” that transformed to a venomous rendition of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.”
Beyoncé: I Am... World Tour was released in 2010 and was another full-length concert film. Her record-breaking international tour took place from 2009-2010. I Am... was directed and edited by Beyoncé for her own Parkwood Pictures.
Bey blew folks away with her 2011 Billboard Music Awards performance of “Run The World (Girls).” She was inspired by Lorella Cuccarini’s performance at the Sanremo 2010 Italian music festival. The singer was also presented with the Billboard Millennium Award by her mother, Tina.
Who could forget Beyoncé’s 2011 MTV Video Music Awards’ performance where the star revealed that she was pregnant with her oldest child, Blue Ivy? During “Love On Top,” she popped open her purple sequined blazer to reveal a precious baby bump.
Beyoncé was selected to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” in front of hundreds of thousands of people in Washington DC at the 2013 presidential inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama. She later admitted to singing along to a prerecorded track because she had no time to rehearse and said she “wanted to make (Obama) and the country proud.”
In 2013, Bey headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Orleans which featured an unforgettable Destiny’s Child reunion. “It’s one of those magical performances you can’t recreate,” Beyonce told CBS. “I wanted it to be something iconic and something that people would never forget.”
Back in 2014, HBO aired the Paris leg of Bey and Jay Z’s On The Run tour. In the film, the pair performed nearly 40 songs including “Holy Grail,” “Upgrade U,” “Clique/Diva” and “Forever Young.” “This is a major musical event that belongs on HBO,” said HBO programming president Michael Lombardo in a statement. “It’s going to be a night to remember.”
The all day event, Global Citizen Festival, took place in New York’s Central Park back in 2015. Though stars like Michelle Obama, Stephen Colbert, Bono and Leonardo Di Caprio made appearances, the best part of the festival was, in fact, Beyoncé. During an hour-long set, she performed hits like “Crazy in Love” and “Halo,” as well as Destiny Child songs “Survivor,” and “Jumpin,’ Jumpin.’” Ed Sheeran joined her on an acoustic version of “Drunk in Love.”
The black militant costumes! The afros! The twerking! Beyoncé crashed Coldplay’s headlining set at the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show alongside Bruno Mars. This was the first time she performed “Formation” live (she had just released the song the day before) and paid homage to Michael Jackson in the process.
In a surprise appearance, Beyoncé opened the 2016 BET Awards with a show-stopping performance of “Freedom” from her sixth studio album Lemonade. Kendrick Lamar, who has a cameo on the track, appeared alongside Bey to stomp in the pool of water as he recited his verse.
For the first time ever, the MTV Video Music Awards took place at Madison Square Garden in 2016. Beyoncé, who took home the award for Best Breakthrough Long Form Video, did an alluring medley of hits from Lemonade. She also broke the all-time record for most wins at the MTV VMAs.
At the 2017 Grammys, a very-pregnant-with-twins Bey performed moving renditions of “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles” (both from Lemonade). The star used powerful holograms and headpieces to evoke Virgin Mary and goddess imagery. Her gravity-defying chair also had viewers on the edge of their seat, but Bey was more than fine: that night she became the first artist to be nominated in four genre categories in the same year.
In 2018, Bey became the first Black woman headliner in the history of Coachella. The historic performance was turned into the documentary Homecoming for Netflix as well as an accompanying live album. Beyoncé paid homage to HBCUs and welcomed Destiny’s Child members to the stage for a brief reunion as well as sister Solange and hubby Jay Z.
Global Citizen Festival took place for the first time ever in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2018. Bey, along with Jay Z, performed at FNB Stadium for the epic event which honored the memory of Nelson Mandela. Styled by Zerina Akers and Jenke Ahmed Tailly, Bey donned a different ensemble to accompany each segment of her set with Jay.
Beyoncé received her first Oscar nomination for her King Richard song “Be Alive.” To celebrate the monumental moment, she opened the 2022 Academy Awards with a rendition of the song. The pre-recorded performance was staged at Tragniew Park tennis courts in Compton, California a week before the awards ceremony.
Beyoncé’s first headlining performance in four years happened in January 2023 at Atlantis The Royal Resort in Dubai. The luxurious event was invite only and featured the musician on stage for an hour. The crowd, which consisted of about 1,500 people, included Jay-Z, Kendall Jenner and a slew of socialites, influencers and royals.
Bey kicked off the Renaissance World Tour earlier this week in Stockholm, Sweden. Not only did the star perform Renaissance in its entirety, Beyoncé’ also debuted a host of very impressive—and flexible—dancers. Her costumes were a mixture of vintage fashion and runaway inspired pieces. In addition, Bey’s vocals were spell-bounding and gave her biggest fans the complete and utter confidence to say: the queen is back.
