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After releasing Cowboy Carter earlier this year and dropping “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which gave her the first no.1 on the country charts ever for a Black woman, Beyoncé seemingly went on hiatus. The Texas-born superstar showed up on social media every now and then, but further promotion of the album was nonexistent.
Until now. During the lengthy Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics in Paris, Beyoncé came through with a video and her song “Ya Ya” playing in the background to introduce Team USA.
In true American fashion Beyoncé appeared in a video montage wearing a cowboy hat, what looked to be a custom red, white and blue one-piece with a USA logo and red, white and blue cowboy boots with a, well, you know the colors, cape.
The “Freedom” singer name checked several athletes in the video, including swimmers Caleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky and sprinters Noah Wyles and Sha’Carri Richardson. The video opens with the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams doing a call and response with the Queen and then segues into multiple athletes dancing to the song.
“Get a look at America, y’all. These hopes and dreams, these superstars that represent us. The people of this big, bold, beautiful, complicated nation. All rooting together for them,” Beyoncé says in the intro.
Olympians in the video include long jumper Tara Davis Woodhall, 200M sprinter Gabby Thomas, rugby (and TikTok) star Ilona Maher, LeBron James, track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, tennis phenom Coco Gauff and swimmer Simone Manuel. All of them are expected to or have already medaled (the US male gymnastics team has and so has Manuel, as of this writing.)
“That pride and that joy…that’s what gets me about this team and that’s what makes me believe in this team,” B concludes. “And that’s why I can’t wait to see what they pull off over these next 16 days. America, give it up for Team USA, the very best of who we are. What a vision to behold. What a team to believe in. What a night to celebrate.”
Though Beyoncé has gained accolades for Country Carter she’s been scarce as of late. This is her first public appearance related to the album in many months. She has yet to announce any new singles, TV appearances, or a tour, but “Ya Ya,” was a fan favorite when the album first came out.
And does Beyoncé really have to announce anything in advance?
No word on whether or not B will head to Paris for any of the Games. Celebs who have been spotted enjoying the competition are Tom Cruise, Flavor Flav, who is the official hype man for women’s water polo, Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and actress Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban.
Beyoncé did make the time to give permission to presidential candidate Kamala Harris to use her song “Freedom” from Lemonade for her first campaign ad.
So who knows where B might show up next? See how excited everyone was to see Bey pop out below.