LONDON STADIUM ICONS // BEYONCE

Whether it is dominating the city skyline from a distance or images of its trademark floodlights, London Stadium’s iconic nature has never been in doubt. More so, London Stadium is even better defined by those icons who grace its pitch, its track and its stage.

What better way to usher in a new content series celebrating the biggest and best names to have performed at the venue than with our first female headliner, Beyoncé.

‘The Queen’ was the first female to headline London Stadium, alongside husband Jay-Z, when the On the Run II tour played back-to-back nights in June. At the end of their second evening, the pair announced the surprise release of a new joint studio album, Everything is Love, which debuted at number two on the US Billboard charts. 

Beyonce Knowles-Carter is the most nominated woman in the history of the Grammy Awards and has sold over 100 million records worldwide. Rising to fame as lead singer of the acclaimed Destiny’s Child to becoming the most powerful women in entertainment, as named by Forbes in 2017. She continues to be a superpower in the world of entertainment.

A modern-day feminist and inspiration to women, many artists point to her as a key influence in their music careers, such as Britney Spears, Ariana Grande and Adele. Jody Rosen, a writer for the New Yorker, described her as, 

“The most important and compelling popular musician of the twenty-first century, the end point of a century-plus of pop.”

Herself and Jay-Z performed heavily acclaimed singles like ‘Crazy in Love’, ‘Holy Grail’ and ‘Ni**as in Paris’ to sold-out London Stadiumcrowds in excess of 65,000 on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 June, with Independent writer Tom Rasmussen summing the night up as “a show for the history books. Tonight was the best night of my life, as Beyonce might put it, flawless.”

A clear celebration of the love the couple share for each-other which everyone could appreciate and only built up the amazing atmosphere, as Metro writer Tobi Akingbade referred to.

“He was at his most happiest in Beyonce’s presence and even turned to the audience to call her, the greatest performer on earth,” Akingbade wrote following the show.

Flanked by 19 backing dancers and collectively owning the stage with her husband, she gave thousands a night they’ll never forget, and you can guarantee she’ll continue to do that for as long as she possibly can. 

Iconic.