40 Things We Learned From Beyonce’s HBO Documentary

Beyonce's-Documentary


You get to watch Beyonce and Julez (Solange’s son) play “Heart and Soul” on the piano and Beyonce sings to her not-yet-born daughter.

Beyonce's-Documentary

She addresses rumors that she used a surrogate mother, saying: “A child, you don’t play around with that.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce’s pretty spiritual.

Beyonce's-Documentary

Immediately after she miscarried, Beyonce went to the studio to write “the saddest song she’s ever written.” It hasn’t been released yet.


Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce loved being pregnant. A lot: “Being pregnant was very much life falling in love. You are so open, so overjoyed.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

She brought in two boys from Mozambique to perform with her at the 2011 Billboard Awards for “Run The World (Girls).”

Beyonce's-Documentary

She likes to be pissed off before she goes on stage.

Beyonce's-Documentary

She had a miscarriage two years ago. She heard her baby’s heartbeat for the first time and said, “It was the most beautiful music I had ever heard in my life.” She picked out names, too.


Beyonce's-Documentary

She doesn’t think artists release albums as art in 2013, and used Nina Simone as her example of what she aspires to: “I think when Nina Simone put out music, you loved her voice. That’s what she wanted you to love. That was her instrument. But you didn’t get brainwashed by her day to day live, what her child is wearing…It’s not your business. It shouldn’t influence the way you listen to her music, the voice, the art, but it does.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce’s a business, man. Example: “Business and being polite don’t match. You can be fair, but me being polite was not me being fair to myself. And now I’m learning how political things are; a lot of the crazy things he [her dad] did was necessary.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce goes off on male privilege and feminism when talking about “Girls (Run The World),” and you get to hear her use the word “bullshit.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

She previewed “I Care” for Columbia Records-and the entire conference room gave her a standing ovation.

Beyonce's-Documentary

On knowing herself: “My goal was trusting myself, and my goal was growth. I believe I had to go through my miscarriage, owning my company, managing myself….Ultimately, your independence comes from knowing yourself…”

Beyonce's-Documentary

She rehearsed for the Billboard Awards performance in the hallway of her hotel, and the first time anyone saw the full performance together was when it was live.

Beyonce's-Documentary

At one point, she felt that she was doing too much, and wouldn’t be able to grow as an artist.

Beyonce's-Documentary

She says the battle of her life is figuring out how to stay current and stay soulful.

Beyonce's-Documentary

She thinks about retiring. Often.

Beyonce's-Documentary

If you get HBO, you can now watch an early ultrasound of Blue Ivy Carter on-demand.

Beyonce's-Documentary

She records herself speaking to her computer on the night Blue Ivy kicks for the first time. For the record, she kicked five times.

Beyonce's-Documentary

When she was younger, she felt like she needed her father’s approval. Mathew Knowles never gave it, because he wanted to push her to get better and stronger.

Beyonce's-Documentary

Being independent meant firing her father. She felt as though her soul had been tarnished from it. “It was bigger than the record, it’s bigger than my music.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

She set a goal and fixated on becoming an independent person, artistically and financially.

Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce discusses the matter of cathartic sex with Jay-Z: “Stop pretending I have it all together. And if I’m scared, be scared, allow it, release it, move on. I think I need to go listen to “Make Love To Me” [“1+1″] and go make love to my husband.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

What It’s Like To Be Beyonce and Jay-Z: Beyonce and Jay-Z sit on a yacht and listen to Feist, and she talks about feeling overjoyed. Jay also sings a few bars of “Forever Young.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce constantly records herself on her laptop.

Beyonce's-Documentary

When 4 was released, she was in Paris with her nephew, Julez, who she brought because he is fluent in French. She also wanted to give him a memory with his father, who lives in Paris.

Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce wasn’t crazy about hiding her pregnancy: “I had to hide something that was the best thing in my life.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

On women: “I love my husband, but there’s nothing like a conversation with a woman that understands you. I grow so much from those conversations. I need my sisters.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce would perform in her mother’s hair salon when she was younger, and then ask for money.

Beyonce's-Documentary

Blue Ivy is shown on camera in the final scene where Beyonce’s family sits around looking at photos—even her father Mathew is there.

Beyonce's-Documentary

Beyonce really, really, really enjoyed giving birth.

Beyonce's-Documentary

Destiny’s Child heard Survivor debuted at No. 1 while filming the “Bootylicious” video.

Beyonce's-Documentary

On finding herself, and fate: “When you really pay attention, there are certain little clues we get. It’s so crystal clear what the next step is. It’s just this puzzle, and everything is in its right place…We eventually become what we’re supposed to be.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

She dedicated the entire documentary to Blue Ivy Carter and Shawn Carter. And nobody else.

Beyonce's-Documentary

On Jay-Z: “We connected on a spirtual level and he just so happens to be a musician…I pray that Jay and I stay a team…It’s every woman’s dream, to feel this way about someone.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

A home video from Dec. 4, 2006—Jay-Z’s birthday—shows Beyonce making a speech to close family and friends. She says: “I was 20 years-old when we first started dating,” and that he taught her how to be a woman.

Beyonce's-Documentary

Jay-Z and Beyonce sing Coldplay’s “Yellow” to each other. They also change the lyrics to “Jay Jay, I love you so.”

Beyonce's-Documentary

She was pregnant at the Billboard Awards and no one knew.

Beyonce's-Documentary


After her VMA performance of “Love On Top” where she revealed that she was pregnant, she walked off-stage and exclaimed: “We’re all free!”

Beyonce's-Documentary

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