Beyoncé Reveals Why She Stopped Making Music Videos
From blowing bubblegum in “Crazy In Love” to smashing cars with a baseball bat in “Hold Up,” Beyoncé has delivered some of pop’s most memorable music videos. But then she stopped. Despite the success of Renaissance and Cowboy Carter, she hasn’t released any music videos to accompany either album.
In a recent interview with GQ, Beyoncé opened up about the decision. “I thought it was important that during a time where all we see is visuals, that the world can focus on the voice,” she explained. “The music is so rich in history and instrumentation. It takes months to digest, research, and understand. The music needed space to breathe on its own.”
She continued, “Sometimes a visual can be a distraction from the quality of the voice and the music. The years of hard work and detail put into an album that takes over four years! The music is enough. The fans from all over the world became the visual. We all got the visual on tour. We then got more visuals from my film.”
For Renaissance especially, she emphasized that the live concert experience was more important than filming music videos. Released in 2022, the album was created during the pandemic as “a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world.” The tour and subsequent concert film provided fans with the visual experience.
In early 2024, Beyoncé returned to the top of the charts with Cowboy Carter, a country-inspired album that broke new ground, making her the first Black woman to reach No. 1 on the U.S. country chart with Texas Hold ‘Em and score a No. 1 country album. The album received praise and support from figures like Michelle Obama and Paul McCartney.
However, despite its accomplishments, Cowboy Carter was notably left out of the 2024 CMAs, receiving no nominations. Despite the CMAs recognizing other pop crossover artists like Post Malone and Shaboozey, Cowboy Carter was overlooked for nominations in any category. Several factors may have played a role in the CMA’s decision to snub the album.
Following the album’s release, Beyoncé shared a remix of Texas Hold ‘Em and revealed that she kept much of the original backing track from the 1968 version of Blackbird in her cover. She also confirmed that Stevie Wonder played harmonica on Jolene, and RAYE co-wrote one of the album’s songs “Riiverdance.”
