Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is an international icon known for empowering women with her bold voice and personality. Since her start in Destiny’s Child to her current career as one of the world’s most famous women, Beyoncé has created a legacy for herself and left many influential artifacts in her path. Her attitude and character makes her “an icon of black feminism” (Armstrong 1) for women and her confidence and power make her an example for many. From surprise albums to iconic, powerful and sometimes controversial performances, she stands out as one of pop culture’s most influential performers.

            Beyoncé’s Super Bowl 50 half-time show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Hgh7sPDLM) was a performance that stunned the nation for many reasons. The artist generally targets females of all ages when releasing music but for this show, she took the opportunity to perform in front of one of the largest audiences of all; Super Bowl viewers. People of all genders and ages watch the Super Bowl every year. It is one of the most viewed events on television and she used this opportunity to make a bold statement, a political statement in fact. The style of the show was powerful and structured, she wanted to draw attention to it and make it loud and strong and she definitely did that through every aspect, vocal and performance wise.  Beyoncé and her background dancers dressed in military costumes in order to represent a civil rights movement from the 1960’s. She was trying to empower African American people during a dark time for the country in terms of police brutality. This came about during the emergence of “the #blacklivesmatter movement” (France 1) and many people tie it to that issue. “The X formation was a tribute to the radical black separatist Malcom X” (Leonard 2). All of her background dancers were African American and dressed in “Black Panther- esque outfits” (France 1) to represent this.  “Beyoncé’s performance put a spotlight on the heightened racial tensions in the U.S.” (Falzone 3)

This was controversial for many reasons. Many people felt that she was “hijacking America’s biggest family event for a dubious tribute” (Leonard 3). Many felt that she was trying to stir up negative feelings during an event that was meant to bring the country together. Many law enforcement agencies have argued that “the imagery in the music video is anti-law enforcement” (France). This may have damaged her reputation with people who felt this way, however, much of “liberal America and much of the mainstream media whooped and cheered” (Leonard 4), supporting her message. Regardless, she obviously used song as her mode and tried to evoke emotion from everyone watching and she definitely succeeded in using this medium to get her point across. By putting on this show during such an influential event, she shocked everyone watching and opened their eyes to this issue by using a prestigious performance opportunity to highlight something that means a lot to her. The halftime show had “more viewers than the game itself, which was almost the most watched U.S. TV event in history” (CBS 3) This halftime show was different from anything the world had ever seen from this stage and that is why she drew so much attention. Overall she got the emotional response from viewers that she was hoping for, whether negative or positive, by presenting her feelings though this art form.

When the singer released the album and visual album “Lemonade”, her image changed in a big way. Beyoncé’s typical audience ranged from pre-teen girls all the way up through young women. When she released lemonade, her fan base exploded and people of every gender, race and age were listening to Lemonade. “Lemonade derives its power from a number of tensions that feel new for Beyoncé” (Als 3) The diversity of this album and the newness and intensity quickly drew people in. Each song on the album has a completely different sound and concept from the one before it, but as a whole, the album comes together flawlessly to form a piece of art in the form of a story. For Beyoncé, this type of music was new and this album exploded for that very reason, people really enjoyed her change in style.

            She wrote this album when she and her husband Jay-Z were going through a rumored rough patch, the talk of them splitting created buzz throughout the pop culture community as it was thought to be the spark behind the album. This album was completely different from anything the artist had done before. The music was more aggressive and very empowering to women by telling them that “Men will try to control you by dictating the limits of your pleasure, your ambition, your success”(Als 1) and that women should not accept this treatment. Because of this message, the album became a huge feminist statement for women. It is an album that “attempts storytelling” (Als 3), from her southern roots to her adult life, all the way to women’s empowerment, this album is a political statement much like her Super Bowl 50 performance. This album became “news, part of the national conversation, a validation of her status as a pop phenomenon” (Als 3).

Her song “Formation” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZJPJV__bQ), one of the most popular from the album, talks about her roots, her childhood and her family.  She uses the album to take the listener on a journey and that is exactly what she accomplished with this album.

 Many songs on Lemonade definitely fall under the pop genre with many also being categorized as R&B and hip-hop, “lemonade is diverse, experimental and refreshing” (Adejobi 4). She diversified this album with many different sounds and types of music to tell her story and this also allows her to sell to a wider range. By releasing the album along with the album video, she did something very new and different and really made the story come alive. By releasing it in this style, there was no mistaking the story she was attempting to tell, as the video did it for her. This album completely comes at the listener or viewer from an emotional angle. She begins by “questioning her relationship”(Leight 2) and talks about her personal heartbreak and then “Cuts loose from an untrustworthy partner” (Leight 2). She goes on to relate it to other women by attacking men and telling women to be independent. She wants the music to be relatable. She continues to talk about her “southern roots and the class distinctions” (Als 4) and essentially says she does not care whether or not people agree when she says “catch my fly and my cocky fresh” in her song “Formation”. This album definitely had a positive impact on her career as it quickly became a chart topper. Her attitude and new sound and style in Lemonade broadened her audience and allowed her to appeal to people with all tastes.

            Beyoncé’s performance at President Obama’s inauguration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGDH18R7GfA) created a lot of gossip in the music industry as people began to believe that she sang with a pre-recorded track of the National Anthem. When she later admitted that this was true, many people were bashing her, saying that she was not good enough to sing live and that her performance was fake. She explained that it is “very common in the music industry” (CBS 2). For some time, her reputation received some damage as she is usually not one to lip sync or use pre-recorded tracks. She admitted, “Due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about the president and the inauguration, and I wanted to make him and my country proud” (CBS). At a press conference, following this incident she asked the audience to stand and she sang The Star Spangled Banner with no music or tracks. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZOfh0LaLCI) She sang a powerful and loud rendition of The National Anthem and when she finished she paused and followed it with “any questions?”. The singer, in her typical style made a bold and confident statement via her Super Bowl press conference on live television, to relay her message and prove people wrong. The audience was everyone watching the live broadcast, and knowing this she took the opportunity to make her point. Using this event to her advantage is very typical of the singer as she gives off the image of a strong and powerful women and strives to be an icon for females everywhere. The song was beautiful and she made it her own. She showed off her powerful and strong voice and belted the song perfectly. Leaving people stunned like she often does, the singer said no more as she simply wanted to make her point known. She definitely used logos, in a sense as she affirmed her credibility and backed her talents. By taking this action she remained an icon and influence to women and established herself as the artist that people believe her to be.

            Beyoncé’s performance at Super Bowl 50 brought attention to many prominent issues, as well as her album that made it to the charts only hours after its release. Her use of important events to spotlight issues is something that she does well. Her style is all about bringing attention to issues she feels are important and she knows that her huge following is the way to do that. Using it as an outlet allows her to stay in the spotlight and remain one of the most influential and popular artists there is. She constantly proves what she can do, much like her live performance of the Star Spangled Banner. Beyoncé is one of a kind and she is constantly changing and doing new things which is what keeps her prominent in pop culture.