As her mammoth Renaissance World Tour kicked off in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 10, 2023, fans noticed something that made them speculate that Beyoncé was injured, or at least recovering from something.
Beyoncé made her solo debut in 2003 with her first single “Crazy in Love” featuring her now-husband, Jay-Z. The song, which was featured on Beyoncé’s debut album Dangerously in Love, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and led to other hits like “Check on It,” “Deja Vu” and “Me, Myself and I.” Since Dangerously in Love, Beyoncé has released six more albums: 2006’s B’Day, 2008’s I Am… Sasha Fierce, 2011’s 4, 2013’s Beyoncé, 2016’s Lemonade and 2022’s Renaissance.
Since her solo debut, Beyoncé has embarked on headlining tours: Dangerously in Love Tour in 2003; The Beyoncé Experience in 2007; I Am… World Tour from 2009 to 2010; The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour from 2013 to 2014; The Formation World Tour in 2016; and The Renaissance World Tour in 2023. Her most recent solo tour, The Formation World Tour, grossed $256 million worldwide from 49 sold-out shows, according to Billboard, and ranked number two on Pollstar’s Year End Tours chart in 2016. In February 2023, Beyoncé announced her sixth headlining tour, the Renaissance World Tour, which promotes her seventh studio album. But after the tour kicked off in Sweden, fans claimed Bey wasn’t her usual energetic self. Here’s why.
Is Beyoncé injured?
Nothing has been confirmed if Beyoncé is injured but because appeared to take more breaks and didn’t move around as much as she normally does while kicking off her Renaissance World Tour, fans began to speculate that she might’ve had secret foot surgery—a rumor that actually dates back to January 2023.
PHOTO: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Parkwood
“Beyoncé ain’t moving,” one fan noticed at the Stockholm show. “her foot and leg must still be mash up.” Another observed: “Fantastic opening night. Visually and conceptually her best tour to date. Vocals were moisturized. We gon’ continue praying for your foot, mother @beyonce, but what a great creative spectacle,” another wrote. “Beyoncé can take my foot I don’t need it fr,” someone generously offered. “Yea … there is something DEFINITELY wrong with Beyoncé’s foot. She isn’t moving or dancing as much as she usually does. She still performing her ass off though,” another said. “Beyoncé performing THIQUE. You can tell her she’s being extra careful with her foot (probably doc orders),” another wrote.
It comes after Garrick Kennedy, author of the Whitney Houston tell-all Didn’t We Almost Have it All, attended Bey’s private show in Dubai and may have accidentally revealed the singer had had foot surgery earlier. “That voice is [sic] just gets better and better. Mama was doing her good singing. Mind-blowing to see her and Blue Ivy perform together. Even more in awe to hear she did this after foot surgery,” Kennedy wrote in a since-deleted Tweet but PopCrave was too quick and shared a screenshot.
But the biggest clue has come from an unlikely source: Coldplay’s lead vocalist and Beyoncé BFF, Chris Martin. They’re actually close friends and during an interview with Conan O’Brien on his Conan Needs A Friend podcast in March 2023, Martin seemed to confirm Beyoncé’s injury. “You know she’s my hero and sister and everything,” said Martin about the singer, “but it’s funny because I’m like, ‘I have a knee problem from the stage,’ and she’ll say, ‘Yeah me too.’”
Needless to say, that sent the Beyhive into a frenzy of wild speculation. “Chris Martin says he told Beyoncé he has a knee problem from stage & Beyoncé said “yeah me too” GIRL CHECK THOSE KNEES BEFORE RWT LIKE OMG” tweeted one fan at the time, who picked up on what Martin might have been hinting at.
Prior to her lavish (and astoundingly lucrative—she’s said to have pocketed $24 million for the one-hour-long extravaganza) Dubai show, the multi-Grammy award winner last performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2018. Beyoncé was initially scheduled to headline but had to drop out last minute after she became pregnant with twins Rumi and Sir Carter, whom she shares with her husband Jay-Z.
Beyoncé has 32 Grammy wins to her name and, with a total of nine nominations at the 2023 awards, she’s tied with her husband Jay-Z as the most-nominated music act in the history of the Grammys with 88 nominations each. She’s the most-awarded artist in Grammy’s history after winning Best Dance / Electronic Music Album for Renaissance. She overtook the late conductor Georg Solti, who set the record for most Grammy wins in 1997.
The 2022 album Renaissance also scored a nomination for Album of the Year at the Grammys, while the track “Break My Soul” brought in nominations for both Record and Song of the Year. “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world,” she wrote on Instagram. “It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving.” It seems this could be her most carefree, happiest sound yet. “My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment,” she went on. “A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.”
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