Beyoncé dominates the media with every move she makes, yet she rarely speaks to the press.
Considering she's celebrated as one of the greatest performers on the planet and is praised
by critics and audiences alike, her decision to shy away from the cameras may seem baffling.
In her 2014 documentary, Beyoncé: Life is but a Dream, the singer explained the frustration
she felt over rumors about her personal life, and stressed that she wanted to share her
work, not her privacy.
Perhaps her answer to the constant hum of celebrity life may be just to disappear…only
to emerge on her own terms, as she did in the 2018 September issue of Vogue.
Here, we're exploring all the reasons why Beyoncé stopped giving interviews.
"Power's not given to you.
You have to take it."
Her "Flawless" image
The Queen maintains intense control over her image.
And for proof, you only need to look as far as her 2013 cover story for GQ, in which the
author describes the singer's office as having a room…
"[…] that contains the official Beyoncé archive, a temperature-controlled digital-storage
facility that contains virtually every existing photograph of her, […] every interview she's
ever done; every video of every show she's ever performed; every diary entry she's ever
recorded"
Soon after that GQ piece was published, Beyoncé's team reportedly requested that BuzzFeed pull
"unflattering" photos from her show-stopping 2013 Super Bowl halftime performance.
As of 2018, the pics are still available on the site, and all over the internet.
Managing the politics
Beyoncé has kept her few interviews pretty light for a long time, focusing on her music,
acting, and occasionally her personal life.
"I think people respect that I'm private, and don't really ask anymore."
She rarely delved too deep into socio-economic issues, perhaps because when she did, she
was attacked.
In August 2015, Salon blasted Bey for not speaking out on the Black Lives Matter movement,
yet it acknowledged her presence at a Trayvon Martin rally and noted that she and husband
Jay-Z were rumored to have donated thousands of dollars to bail out protesters arrested
in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of Mike Brown.
But when Beyoncé brought the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and Oscar
Grant onto the 2016 MTV VMA's red carpet, and paid tribute to the Black Lives Matter
and Black Panther movements with her 2016 Super Bowl Halftime Show, she was accused
of being racist and of "inciting bad behavior" toward law enforcement.
Sharing the spotlight
Beyoncé has been in the spotlight since before she could drive, and sometimes it seems like
she's tired of it.
"I always knew who I was and I never felt the need to follow anyone."
Lately, the superstar seems more keen on sharing the spotlight with her mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson,
and her little sister, Solange Knowles.
In a January 2017 Interview magazine piece, Beyonce interviewed her sister, revealing
little to nothing about herself save for a few childhood memories.
In the same month, The New York Times published a profile on Knowles-Lawson.
For the paper, Beyoncé conducted a brief Q&A over email through her publicist, reflecting
on her mother's art collection.
"My mother was the person that preached to me."
"You really need to live your life and to open your eyes.
You don't wanna wake up with no memories."
But it's likely neither of these features would have made it to print if it wasn't for
Beyoncé's massive cultural influence.
Speaking through her music
Beyoncé has been through a lot in recent years, but she hasn't spoken about it.
Instead, she's been singing about it.
"People see celebrities and they have money and fame, but I'm a human being, I cry, I
get nervous…"
With Lemonade, considered by many to be Queen Bey's magnum opus, Beyoncé described the
alleged turmoil in her marriage to Jay-Z, including his infidelities.
Instead of giving an interview, publicly calling out "Becky with the good hair," Beyoncé sings
about her in "Sorry," leaving fans to try to figure out who the other woman was.
In Jay-Z and Beyoncé's joint album, Everything is Love, the couple addresses everything from
Jay's cheating, to rumors that he fathered a love child, assuring the world through their
music that for their family, everything is, indeed, love.
Cultivating the mystery
Beyoncé is on another level from other stars in the game.
Widely regarded as the greatest performer of her generation, it seems like other celebrities,
including Taylor Swift, are now attempting to adopt Bey's press-averse status.
As Yale professor Daphne A. Brooks told The New York Times,
"[Beyoncé's] been able to reach this level of stardom in which she's managed, in a way
that I really think is unique even among other black women entertainers, hyper-visibility
and inaccessibility simultaneously."
Brooks added that Bey's absence from the limelight encourages audiences to face the art first,
rather than the artist who makes it.
"I feel like right now, people experience music differently."
Beyoncé told Vogue in 2013,
"I don't feel like I have to please anyone.
[…] I can do what I want.
I can say what I want.
I can retire if I want.
That's why I've worked hard."
"I will make my best art and just put it out.
And that's why it's out today."
​September issue takeover
Beyoncé Fall 2018 Vogue cover story was one of her first in years, and Queen Bey reportedly
exercised an unprecedented amount of control.
She provided the editorial content, and chose her own photographer, explaining in the mag,
"Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens,
we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world actually looks
like.
That is why I wanted to work with this brilliant 23-year-old photographer Tyler Mitchell."
She then added her personal backstory, revealing,
"…When I first started, 21 years ago, I was told that it was hard for me to get onto
covers of magazines because black people did not sell.
Clearly that has been proven a myth.
Not only is an African American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this
is the first ever Vogue cover shot by an African American photographer."
Even when it comes to Vogue, Bey gets what she wants.
And it looks like she's finally revealing her true essence, and bringing everyone along
for the ride.
"That was definitely exhilarating.
I feel very proud, I'm happy it's over.
I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my s----."