She swayed backward on a chair and didn’t fall.
A very pregnant Beyonce was easily among the most highly-anticipated performers of the 2017 Grammys, transforming the stage into what was essentially the biggest baby shower in history.
The pop icon, who is having twins, was introduced by her mother, Tina Knowles. “Ladies and gentleman, with a mother’s pride, Beyonce,” Knowles announced. It was the perfect framing for what the contemporary music industry and delirious fans worldwide got to experience at this moment in her career. Beyonce has long been Queen Bey, but on Sunday night, and as she continues to raise her family, she’s the queen mother.
The singer triumphantly delivered a gravity defying two-song section from her multiple-nominee lightning rod album “Lemonade.”
For the first time live, she performed “Love Drought,” a dreamy ballad about calling a truce in a relationship plagued by betrayal, and “Sandcastles,” about the inability to walk away from true love.
Before she sang a single note, the star read a spoken-word poem against a video package that she interacted with live — a sort of video art set she sampled at last year’s Tidal streaming concert in Brooklyn.
“Do you remember being born?” the singer asked. At one point, there were images of three generations of her family, including her mother, and her daughter Blue Ivy Carter.
And of course, fans went wild all over social media.
Here is a sampling of Twitter reactions:
https://twitter.com/ElzPanero/status/830980766498693120
Beyoncé looking like a GODDESS ? #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/Ihbn0LcEV1
— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) February 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/Kehlani/status/830980271491026944
how did beyonce just slay a performance with two babies in her stomach at the #GRAMMYs why do I have so much more appreciation for her
— devin(corwin) (@devvincorrwin) February 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/explicitfvck/status/830966676787060736
SHE'S SO CUTE AND CHUBBY I WANNA PINCH HER CHEEKS LOOK AT PREGNANT BEYONCÉ pic.twitter.com/syCz2OFYIA
— evan is an alien superstar (@beyonseh) February 13, 2017
Black women are the purest form of art ✨ #Beyoncé #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/JcJNSoWT3E
— Legendary Rootz (@LegendaryRootz) February 13, 2017
Let's just do the election over, have Beyoncé run, and get past all this chaos. pic.twitter.com/6HjuD217ty
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) February 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/BeyonceFamily/status/830980702887931904