If Beyoncé performs during halftime, you know you’re in for a very special treat. From her landmark two Super Bowl halftime show performances (2013 and 2016), to her landmark Coachella headlining performance (2018) and record-breaking Renaissance World Tour ( 2023), Beyoncé consistently delivers jaw-dropping performances that showcase her vocal virtuosity, dance skills and penchant for sharing important pieces of history.
On Christmas Day (December 25, 2024), Queen Bey presents her first live performance of her Billboard 200-topping song to NRG Stadium Cowboy Carter album. She brings an explosive medley of tracks to her hometown of Houston, Texas, including “16 Carriages,” “Blackbird,” “Girls,” “My Home,” “Riiverdance,” “Spaghetti,” “Levii’s Jeans,” “Jolene,” and “Texas Hold ‘Em” on the Billboard Hot 100. Several guest stars from the album were also in attendance, including Shabz, Post Malone, Britney Spencer, Tanner Adell, Raina Roberts and Tyra Kennedy; Grammy Awards Winner Blue Ivy Carter was the featured dancer throughout the show.
Inspired by an unpleasant experience at the 2016 CMA Awards, Queen Bey released her 27-track country and western LP last March. The album spawned three Hot 100 top 10 hits and helped Beyoncé become the first black woman advertising billboard #1 all-time on Hot Country Songs and Top Country Albums. The record is up for 11 awards at next month’s Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
Two days after Christmas (December 27, 2024), Beyonce’s performance aired on Netflix as a standalone special titled beyoncé bowl. Now that the world has had enough time to watch (and re-watch) her stadium-shaking medley of performances, here are six things you might have missed at Beyoncé’s NFL Christmas Day halftime show.
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II Most Wanted Shotgun Rider
“II Most Wanted” – a gripping duet with Miley Cyrus – was a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 Cowboy Carter. Even though Queen Bey couldn’t fit the song into her mix, she still dropped a cheeky Easter egg on the Grammy-nominated song.
About a minute into the show, Bey is singing “16 Carriages” on horseback, with a skeleton cowboy in the shotgun seat of a flatbed parked to her right. It’s a nod to the lyrics, “I’ll be your shotgun rider/Until the day I die,” taken from the chorus of “II Most Wanted.”
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“Freedom” drum introduces “Yaya”
Beyoncé Bowl’s first two songs were pre-recorded outside the stadium, while the rest of the show was performed live on the field.
To transition from “Blackbiird” (the last song of the pre-recorded portion) to “Ya Ya” (the first song of the live portion), Beyoncé’s electronic band incorporated drums from the Grammy-nominated “Freedom” Snippets of her 2016 tracks lemonade album. You can hear it in the official YouTube upload at 3:09.
In 2024, “Freedom” became Vice President Kamala Harris’ official campaign song. As she accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at the Democratic National Committee, a rousing rendition of the national anthem, assisted by Kendrick Lamar, filled Chicago’s Union Stadium. Interestingly, “Freedom” appears on the same album as “Daddy Lessons,” Beyoncé’s first foray into country music and the song she sang during her performance at the 2016 CMA Awards. The song is now infamous.
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“My Home” Returns “Return”
A football halftime show calls for a marching band, and that’s right up Beyoncé’s alley. In 2018, she dominated the Coachella Valley with an instantly legendary headlining performance that paid tribute to HBCU bands, female frontmen, and Black Greek culture. Affectionately nicknamed “Beychella,” the stunning set featured a massive marching band and rows of bleachers, both of which returned during the Beyoncé Bowl’s “My House” dominant segment.
Queen Bey drops ‘My Home’ in late 2023 to mark release of her box-office hit revival A documentary concert film, the house rap track heavily incorporates marching band drums and brass, making it a perfect fit for this part of the Beyoncé Bowl. what else? The grandstand setting also served as a built-in platform to highlight Blue Ivy, who danced throughout the show.
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“Buckiin” challenge airs in prime time
In May 2024, dancer and choreographer Ahsia Janaè uploaded a brief composition to the Buckiin’ section Cowboy Carter “Sweet★Honey★Buckiin’.”
After asking Shabz to perform the lyrics to the song’s “Sweet” portion, Beyoncé yelled, “She’s gone!” and jumped right into a dance routine directed by Parris Goebel and inspired by Janaè’s choreography. Janaè announced Bey as the final winner of the “Buckiin'” challenge.
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Juneteenth-inspired “Texas Hold ‘Em” stage
Beyoncé performed her historic hit “Texas Hold ‘Em” on an equally historic stage before she levitated in the air for the finale.
The all-white carriage with flowers on its wheels references the early Juneteenth parade at Emancipation Park in Houston’s Third Ward. A proud H-town girl, Bey has represented Third Ward throughout her career—from her 2013 “No Angel” music video to her live performance “Ya Ya” intro (“One, Two, threefour!
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Special guests other than “Cowboy Carter”
Beyoncé Bowl may be showing a lot Cowboy Carter collaborators, but the massive performance also highlights a number of guests from outside the album’s universe.
The Texas State Cheerleaders represented the home team throughout the show, and nearly 200 members of the Texas Southern University Soul Ocean Marching Band helped reimagine the song’s arrangement.
In “Jolene,” Beyoncé performed the song while riding in a car in a parade that included Mexican cowgirl Melanie Rivera, legendary bull-riding champion Little Myrtis Myrtis Rightman, Jr. (also known as the “Jackie Robinson of rodeo”), Arkansas’ first black rodeo queen, Ja’Dayia Kursh, 2015 Miss Rodeo Texas Nikki Woodward and Houston Texans owner Cal McNair and his wife Hannah McNair.