Beyoncé shared the spotlight with her daughter Blue Ivy Carter as she made her long-awaited return to the stage in Dubai.
In her first headlining show since December 2018, Queen Bey put on what was billed as a “once-in-a-lifetime performance” on Saturday night (January 21) as part of the grand reveal of Atlantis The Royal, Dubai’s newest ultra-luxury resort which opens next month.
The exclusive, invite-only concert ran for approximately one hour and earned Beyoncé a reported $24 million. Attendees included her husband JAY-Z and their three children, her parents, Tina and Mathew Knowles, as well as the likes of Chloe and Halle Bailey, Nia Long and Kendall Jenner.
The theatrical production, which opened and closed with a spectacular fireworks display, saw the pop icon bring a bevy of ballads to life, including “Freedom,” “Spirit” and “Be Alive,” in addition to party-starters like “Crazy in Love,” “Naughty Girl” and “Drunk in Love.”
One of the highlights came when Bey’s 11-year-old daughter Blue Ivy joined her onstage to help her perform “Brown Skin Girl,” their collaboration from the 2019 The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack.
Rocking a red sequined jumpsuit and billowy skirt, Blue Ivy stood next to her mother with a mic in hand and nailed the choreography that the dancers were doing beside them.
When the song ended, she “hugged her mom, walked up the steps, and struck a pose, even blowing kisses to the crowd like a pro before she left the stage,” according to Variety.
Blue Ivy previously shared the stage with Beyoncé during her show-stopping performance of the King Richard single “Be Alive” at the 2022 Oscars last March, which was filmed at a tennis court in Compton, California in tribute to Serena and Venus Williams’ roots.
In 2021, the preteen became the second-youngest Grammy winner ever at age nine when “Brown Skin Girl,” which she co-wrote and sang on and whose music video she appeared in, won Best Music Video.
Beyoncé’s lucrative Dubai concert didn’t include any material from her latest album Renaissance, which she’s presumably saving for her rumored 2023 tour. Queen Bey is also reportedly in talks to perform at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, which take place in Los Angeles on February 5.
The 41-year-old is nominated in nine categories — the most of any artist this year — including Album of the Year (Renaissance), Record of the Year (“Break My Soul”) and Best R&B Song (“Cuff It”).
Meanwhile, it was reported last November that Beyoncé is planning a joint project with JAY-Z as part of her Renaissance trilogy. According to The New York Times pop culture reporter Kyle Buchanan, the second installment in the series will be an “acoustic” album, followed by a full-length collaboration with her husband, whom she previously teamed up with on 2018’s Everything Is Love.
Check out the setlist for Beyoncé’s Dubai concert below.
At Last (Harry Warren cover)
XO
Flaws and All
Ave Maria
Halo
Brown Skin Girl (with Blue Ivy Carter)
Be Alive
Spirit of Rangeela (Performed by Firdhaus Orchestra)
Otherside
Bigger
Spirit
Freedom
I Care
Beautiful Liar
Bwatwains Beek (Performed by Firdhaus Orchestra)
Crazy in Love
Countdown
Naughty Girl
Drunk in Love
Awwwwww…….
just weird that nothing from her new album was performed during the show
Kid looks like Jay Z . Nuff said.
pathetic… but then she’ll come back to the US screaming how woman are so oppressed here after performing for the saudi’s for $24m.
24 million dollars for a concert? Clearly she doesnt have to worry about 4 dollar lettuce heads. Mans priorities are completely out of sync. Imagine how rich youd ha e to be to spend the 24 million. Only fuel for the carters bravado.
Ridiculous. We need to spread wealth evenly and one of the ways to contribute to that is to cap what artists, sports stars etc. can earn in a year. We (in EU) do it for politicians, so why not for these people? Her concert fee is like 500k, say a private concert you pay her 1 or 2 million, but which stupid mfer would pay 48 times that?! Doesn’t even matter how much money you have smh.
Not how it works man…
You’re acting like 24M is her fee, but it includes production cost and labor fees for all involved. Looking at the production you can bet it’s a couple of Mil as it looks like a custom set that she won’t re-use as she’s not on tour.
Tired of people saying artists income needs to be capped. It’s a one of a kind piece of art that a lot of people is willing to pay for. So by your standards, the more people want it, the less they have to pay for it because we share the valued worth… And then for your local artist everybody pays a lot more because they have less fans but they need to earn somewhat comparably to big artists.
So don’t look at artists for spreading wealth, look at CEO’s and of big coorporates etc. That stupid mfer that would pay 48 times that. Remember what Chris Rock mentions what he does for a living, in what neighbour hood he lives and wha his neighbour does for a living (being a dentist). Those are the ones that need to spread wealth as they provide services you depend on. The artist’s service is optional.
Will she build an orphanage like Immortal Technique? Or she just want to flex? Rhetorical question about a highly overrated pop bitch on a so-called hip-hop site.
fuck these greedy losers fuck Jay z king rat
lol why are all you so called men so triggered? Another win for the Carters. Oh, and I’m sure whining about it on a hip hop website will solve YOUR problems lol