Beyoncé thrilled audiences with a special halftime show for Netflix’s inaugural NFL Christmas Gameday.
The pop megastar made a show-stopping appearance during the halftime period of the second game, which saw the Baltimore Ravens dominate over the Houston Texans.
Beyoncé, who was raised in Houston, Texas, debuted live versions of songs from her latest, Grammy-nominated album, Cowboy Carter.
Released earlier this year, the record features country music influences and collaborations with Dolly Parton, Reyna Roberts, Linda Martell, Shaboozey and Willie Nelson.
During her performance, Beyoncé brought out special guests including country singers Tanner Addlell, Brittany Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Robert.
It was her 12-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, however, who really wowed viewers when she joined her mother on stage.
Beyoncé is no stranger to Super Bowl halftime shows, having headlined in 2013 and also made a guest appearance when Coldplay headlined in 2016, which many critics agreed stole the limelight from Chris Martin’s band.
The day before the event, Beyoncé had surprise-released her new song, “Formation”, along with a politically charged music video set in New Orleans that addressed racial discrimination, police brutality and southern identity.
At the Super Bowl, the most-watched television event of the year in the United States, she performed the song while backed by a troupe of dancers dressed in berets, in apparent reference to the uniform of the Black Panthers – the Black power organisation founded just 40 miles from the Santa Clara stadium where Beyoncé’s performance took place.
At one point, Beyoncé and her dancers raised their fists in the air, emulating the Black Panthers’ salute, and also moved into an “X” formation, in an apparent reference to civil rights revolutionary Malcolm X, who was shot dead in 1965.
Her performance generated international headlines, with many critics calling it “the night’s true event”. It was also controversial among right-wing voices, with some protestors calling for an “anti-Beyoncé” rally to take place outside the NFL headquarters (no one turned up).
“Beyoncé effortlessly stole the Super Bowl half-time show right from under Coldplay’s noses with a guest slot that affirmed her brilliance as a performer,” The Guardian’s review said.
“As soon as Beyoncé marched onto the football field, clad in skintight leather and Michael Jackson-style military gold sashes, with a posse of impeccably choreographed female dancers dressed like Seventies Black Panthers, it was time for an early bath for Chris Martin’s band.”
Three years earlier, in 2013, the Lemonade artist headlined the Super Bowl with a medley of some of her greatest hits, including “Crazy in Love”, an acapella rendition of “Love on Top”, “End of Time” and “Baby Boy”.
She concluded with a shock Destiny’s Child reunion, where she was joined by her former bandmates Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland. The performance became one of the most tweeted-about moments on Twitter (now X) at the time and received widespread acclaim from critics.
