The music icon took probably the most political trek of her profession to the nation’s capital.
Beyoncé wears a cowboy hat, a burgundy fake fur fluff coat on one shoulder and a blue denim shirt through the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring/Summer time 2026 present as a part of Paris Style Week on June 24, 2025 in Paris, France.
Edward Berthelot/Getty Photos
Between a surprise appearance from Jay-Z in Paris, Blue Ivy’s routinely show-stealing “Déjà Vu” dance breaks, and an impromptu mid-air “tippin’ on 44s” second in Houston, Beyoncé‘s record-smashing Cowboy Carter Tour has been crammed with viral moments. Nonetheless, Queen Bey pulled out all of the stops for her July 4 present at Maryland’s Northwest Stadium, simply outdoors of Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital.
In its Grammy-winning exploration and illumination of the oft-obfuscated Black roots of American nation music (and early rock ‘n’ roll), Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter LP discovered the music icon squaring her private catharsis (the album was largely made in response to her unfavourable expertise on the 2016 CMA Awards) with a have a look at how the recording business mirrors the exploitation and discardment of Black minds and lives in America at massive.
On Independence Day, Beyoncé entered the stage along with her rousing Cowboy Carter opener, “Ameriican Requiem”; launched by backup dancers doused in blue, the 35-time Grammy-winner’s vocals reverberated throughout the stadium. The track, one thing of a funeral march for an antiquated model of America, set a resiliently optimistic tone for the remainder of the evening. Between performing your complete Cowboy Carter LP, weaving in basic hits from throughout her practically 30-year-strong catalog and incorporating latest hits from Black Southern stars like GloRilla (“TGIF”) and BigXthaPlug (“The Largest”), Beyoncé crafted a sacred house for Black People (and people belonging to the nation’s most mistreated teams) to host their very own emotionally complicated acknowledgement of the nation’s birthday.
Listed below are the seven finest moments of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour on July 4 in Washington, D.C.
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“My Home” 25 Minutes Away From the White Home
“My Home,” the house-rap monitor Beyoncé dropped to commemorate Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé hitting theaters, was at all times destined to be an explosive reside efficiency. From its raucous horns to its frenetic chants, the monitor was an prompt fan favourite for a motive. On July 4, nonetheless, there was a sure gravity felt throughout the stadium when Beyoncé chanted, “Get the f— up out my home!”
In any case, Northwest Stadium is only a 25-minute drive from the White Home, the place the sitting president signed a devastating new bill mere hours earlier. In a rustic that’s getting more and more express about who it feels belongs, “My Home” supplied the group a second to flip the narrative and discover an outlet for his or her rage.
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Beyoncé Opens Present with New American Flag Coat
Style has lengthy been a key part of Beyoncé’s stage present — particularly after the Renaissance World Tour’s silver theme took over the globe in 2023 — and the Cowboy Carter Tour is not any completely different. All through her tragedy stadium trek, she has debuted a plethora of Western-themed outfits, a few of which additionally nod to the aesthetic of Renaissance, the primary LP in her still-unfurling album trilogy.
To open her July 4 present in Washington, D.C., Beyoncé opted for an eye-popping fur coat printed with the design of the American flag over a figure-hugging grey and silver-blue leotard emblazoned with stars. If the coat was a nod to the Cowboy Carter aesthetic, then the leotard nodded to Renaissance — the colourful Black basis that America relentlessly makes an attempt to stifle and erase.
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Queen Bey Goes Full Hendrix
Ever since she kicked off the tour in Los Angeles (April 28), Beyoncé’s otherworldly transition from a vocal interpretation of Jimi Hendrix’s 1969 Woodstock rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” into her personal “Freedom” (which soundtracked Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign) has been an fascinating level of debate. Whereas some didn’t perceive the selection and others felt it was in poor style, Beyoncé’s intentions couldn’t have been clearer as she delivered a dirgeful model of America’s anthem on its birthday. Preceded by her personal “Ameriican Requiem” and succeeded by her cries of “Freedom, freedom, the place are you?”, the opening act of the Cowboy Carter Tour felt particularly poignant on July 4.
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Beyoncé Spots Her Cousin? Sorry, Her Husband
About 15 years in the past, Anthony Cosby (hyphen Knowles!) turned a BeyHive legend ever since he hilariously proclaimed to be each Beyoncé’s cousin and husband throughout her I Am.. World Tour. Cosby has popped up at Bey’s tour ever since, together with the July 4 Cowboy Carter present, the place Beyoncé shouted him out, saying, “C’mon Anthony! I see you, cousin… husband!”
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Déjà Blue
Already a Grammy winner and box office-topping voice actress in her personal proper, Blue Ivy Carter wants no introduction. Her Cowboy Carter Tour solos have shortly develop into the present’s most buzzed-about moments, and never a lot modified in Maryland on July 4. As Honey Balenciaga closed out her a part of the rodeo-ballroom part, tens of hundreds of telephones rose en masse as Blue Ivy emerged from the stage elevate, hitting a nasty sluggish movement flip into her catwalk and “Déjà Vu” dance break — all whereas donning a brand new customized costume, in fact!
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Beyoncé Lincoln Enters the Constructing
The “Assault of the 400 Foot Cowboy” interlude is without doubt one of the higher breaks in Beyoncé’s three-hour Cowboy Carter set, due to each her globe-trotting, slapstick humor and BigXthaPlug’s wavy “The Largest.” Within the interlude, a 400-foot-tall model of Beyoncé struts around the globe and treats varied world landmarks — from the Statue of Liberty to the Eiffel Tower — as playthings. After all, when the Lincoln Memorial winked at her in response to her hat tip, the group went completely nuts.
Notably, Beyoncé’s unique T-shirt for her D.C. cease encompasses a image of her posing rather than Lincoln on the memorial. Appears to be like like we’re one step nearer to that Beyoncé-Oh, Mary! crossover.
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New ‘Alliigator Tears’ Outfit Deepens Track’s Message
One of many extra neglected songs on Cowboy Carter, “Alliigator Tears” stays one of many album’s strongest tracks over a yr after its launch. The track explores the toll it takes to remodel your self to suit calls for you’ll by no means meet, set by individuals who’ll by no means really see previous their very own insincerity and manipulation — and Beyoncé drove that message residence along with her new costume.
Donning a shiny, crimson grown with a thigh-high slit laced with blue frings and white stars, Beyoncé, as soon as once more, regarded to the American flag to tell her outfit. Throughout this part (which additionally included attractive renditions of “Protector,” “Only for Enjoyable” and “Flamenco”), the costume emphasised the best way “Alliigator Tears” illustrates the bigger dynamic between Black folks and the American mission. When she sings, “You say changе faith/ Now, I spend Sundays with you/ Somethin’ ’bout these tears of yours/ How does it really feel to be adored,” she’s straight calling out the U.S. for its constantly-shifting goalposts. Whether or not it’s an efficient line of questioning is one other dialog, nevertheless it definitely packed an emotional punch.