Modeling a pantless stained-glass number, Beyonce Knowles’ VMA performance on Aug. 24, sent a message to everyone from obsessive fans to haters. As her husband Jay-Z Carter and their daughter Blue Ivy joined her onstage, it became clear that Bey had only one thing she wanted everyone to know: this woman is solid.
Beyonce’s entire persona is a thrill of talent, prime female instinct and a humble confidence that very few women will ever achieve. From her days as a survivor in the group Destiny’s Child to her 2013 Super Bowl performance that quite literally shut down the game, she has been a consistent entertainer, role model and inspiration around the globe.
Putting aside my excessive fangirldom, I will attempt to give evidence that Beyonce Knowles is arguably the best female artist in the 21st century.
Item the first: Beyonce’s talent is spectacular. In 2003, her undying song “Crazy In Love” became the first single to hold the top of the charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. In 2004, she took home five Grammys in one night: the most any female artist has ever taken home at once. Somewhere in her house 10 Grammys are probably dusted and polished on the daily. After rumors that she had lipsynced several concerts, she sang every note of her 2013 Super Bowl performance, which was her largest concert ever and has been marked as one of the best live or broadcast performances of all time. Before the show, Bravo asked Twitter users, “Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?” Beyoncé won with 51 percent, leaving the 49ers and Ravens to split 49 percent. Considering that she stood perfectly still for several minutes of explosive applause before singing a single note and the lights wouldn’t turn back on when she was done, I think it is fair to say she did, in fact, win Super Bowl XLVII.
Item the second: She is dedicated. She won a writing award for her story, “Eat, Play, Love” in the July 2011 issue of Essence Magazine. When she tours, she watches film after each performance and takes notes for possible improvements to all aspects of the show. After rumors that she and husband Jay-Z were headed for a divorce, Beyonce brought them up on stage with her to tell the whole world that this family was nowhere near splitting and gave thanks to God for her success.
Item the third: That woman has power. Beyonce is a mother, a professional, an author and a philanthropist. She and her mother started a cosmetology school at the Phoenix House Career Academy, a Brooklyn based women’s rehabilitation facility. She has been outspoken about her dedication to being a wife and mother and keeps her life in respectable privacy. As People Magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman of 2012, Beyonce admitted that her body and her health are a constant project. When H&M photoshopped her to perfection, she threw a fit until they were forced to use the original, unedited images.
After having Blue Ivy, she said towww.Biography.com, “I felt like God was giving me a chance to assist in a miracle. There is something so relieving about life taking over you like that. You’re playing a part in a much bigger show. And that’s what life is. It’s the greatest show on earth.”
It is this wisdom that makes her the woman who can do it all. While keeping her cool, Beyonce has helped girls feel they run the world, and that girl power feels pretty miraculous when “Single Ladies” comes on and makes the whole car dance. Long live the queen.
