Beyoncé's headlining performances at the 2018 Coachella festival took place on April 14 and 21. She was the first Black woman to headline the festival and her performance received widespread critical acclaim. Many in the media described the show as "historic,"[4][5] whileThe New York Times proclaimed it as "meaningful, absorbing, forceful and radical."[6][7]
On January 4, 2017,Beyoncé was announced as a headlining act for the April 2017Coachella festival.[9] However, on February 23, 2017, she postponed her performance until the following year, due to doctor's concerns regarding herpregnancy with twins (born in June 2017).[10][11] Thesecondary (resale) market for tickets to the festival that year fell 12% after the announcement she was postponing.[12]
Playing her rescheduled dates in 2018, Beyoncé became the first black woman ever to headline the festival. In its nearly twenty years of existence, the festival has only had two other women solo headliners,Lady Gaga (who replaced Beyoncé in 2017) andBjörk (2002 and 2007).[12] Even prior to Beyoncé's performance, the nickname "Beychella" emerged for the 2018 festival.[12]Tina Knowles, mother of Beyoncé andSolange Knowles, later said that prior to the show, she had expressed reservations about the performance Beyoncé had planned, worried that the largely white audience at Coachella might not understand a show so steeped in black culture, particularly black college culture.[13] Tina recounted that Beyoncé replied saying that given the platform she had achieved in her career, she felt "a responsibility to do what's best for the world and not what is most popular."[14]
Writing inThe New Yorker,Doreen St. Félix described the musical style of the performance as an "education in black expression [... and] musical history – amélange ofNew Orleans and its horns,Houston and its chopped and screwed beats,Brooklyn and itsrap velocity,Kingston and itsdancehall, andNigeria and the legacy of its dissenter,Fela Kuti [...] underscoring not only [Beyoncé's]Southernness but the globalBlack vernacular that continues to shape her."[15] Near the beginning of the set, Beyoncé sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing," colloquially known as the "Black national anthem".[16]The Wiz, one ofMotown's most notable motion pictures, was alsosampled in the horn arrangement that heralded Beyoncé's return to the stage after her first costume change.[17]
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCU)
The performance pays strong tribute to HBCUs, featuring an African-American marching band and majorette dancers.
The performance has been credited as paying a strong tribute to theHBCU experience.[18] A full African-Americanmarching band played during much of the set,[19] accompanied bymajorette dancers.[15] Writing for Mic.com, Natelegé Whaley stated that the band consisted of members from various HBCUs and played samples of songs that are often played at an HBCU such as "Swag Surf", "Broccoli", and "Back that Azz Up", along with samples ofgospel andgo-go music.[20] Journalists also noted that the set incorporated various aspects ofblack Greek life, such as astep show along with strolling by neophytes (also known as pledges).School Daze, a notableSpike Lee film, is also referenced. Beyoncé's first outfit was a yellow sweatshirt with the Greek letters ΒΔΚ which reads Beta Delta Kappa.[21] Later, she came out in a shirt with a shield designed withNefertiti,Black Panther,black power fist along with a bee, which outlets such asThe Washington Post credited as a reference to the shields each black fraternity and sorority have signifying the important values of the particular fraternity and sorority.[22][23][24]
Reviewers noted the influence ofblack feminism on Beyoncé's performance, including her sampling of Nigerian authorChimamanda Ngozi Adichie'sTED Talk on feminism and the appearances on stage of former collaboratorsKelly Rowland andMichelle Williams ofDestiny's Child well as her sisterSolange; writing inCosmopolitan, Brittney Cooper read Beyoncé's decision to involve these black women in the landmark performance as a gesture of sisterhood.[27]
Performances were held at the Coachella festival on April 14 and 21, 2018. Onstage appearances includes an ensemble of dancers, her sisterSolange, her husbandJay-Z, and her formergirl groupDestiny's Child joined Beyoncé on stage. On April 21, 2018, she was joined byJ Balvin for "Mi Gente" in which his verse was sung first, though this was not included in the film. She played a 26-song set to 125,000 concert-goers in attendance.[28] The set sampledMalcolm X andNina Simone among others.[29] Beyoncé wore five different costumes through the two-hour performance, designed withOlivier Rousteing of French fashion houseBalmain.[30]
Beyoncé's performance garnered 458,000 simultaneous viewers to become the festival's most viewed performance to date and the most viewed live streamed performance of all time, with the entire performance having 41 million total viewers from around the world, 75% more than the previous year.[31][32]
The performance received universal critical acclaim. InThe New York Times, music criticJon Caramanica wrote: "There's not likely to be a more meaningful, absorbing, forceful and radical performance by an American musician this year, or any year soon, than Beyoncé's headlining set" at the festival. "It was rich with history, potently political and visually grand. By turns uproarious, rowdy, and lush. A gobsmacking marvel of choreography and musical direction."[6] InVariety, Chris Willman wrote, "The show served as testament...to Beyoncé as the premier musical performer of our time."[33]The Washington Post,CNN,NBC,Entertainment Weekly, andBillboard all described the performance as "historic".[4][5][34][35][23]
On April 3, 2019, it was reported that Beyoncé was working on new music, and also a collaborative project with Netflix which would be tied to her Coachella 2018 performance with additional footage.[36] On April 6, 2019, Netflix officially teased the project by posting on social media a yellow image with the word "Homecoming" across it, and also the release date of the film.[37] The film's trailer was eventually released on April 8,[3][38] and was viewed over 16.6 million times across all Netflix social media accounts and Beyoncé'sFacebook page within the first 24 hours.[39] Upon the film's release, Beyoncé released a live album entitledHomecoming: The Live Album. Homecoming had 757,000 interactions across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter over its first week.[40]Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé is the first of three projects Beyoncé has committed toNetflix, on a reportedly $60 million deal.[41]
Nielsen reported that the film was watched by 1.1 million in the US in its first day, excluding views on mobile devices and computers, whichVariety noted may have resulted in a sizeable undercount of views due to the "youth-skewing makeup of the 'Homecoming' viewership." 55% of viewership in the first seven days came fromAfrican-Americans, higher than any other original streaming series or film tracked by Nielsen to date, ahead ofBird Box, which had 24% African-American viewership.[40] According toNetflix,Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé was the fourth most popular documentary offered on the platform in 2019, being the only concert film to appear on the list.[42]
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé received widespread critical acclaim. Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 8.9/10. The website's critics consensus simply states: "Beychella forever."[43] OnMetacritic, it has a weighted average score of 93 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[44]
Several publications namedHomecoming: A Film by Beyoncé as one of the greatest concert films of all time, includingRogerEbert.com,[45]The Washington Post,[46]The Hollywood Reporter,[47]Deadline,[48]Refinery29,[49]Chatelaine,[50]The Guardian,[51] andChicago Sun-Times.[52] Spencer Kornhaber ofThe Atlantic calledHomecoming "one of Beyoncé's masterpieces", adding that the film's "combo of well-edited stage spectacle and behind-the-scenes segments—intimate, hard-fought, occasionally tense, politically explicit, personally specific segments—make it a career-defining document."[53] David Ehrlich ofIndieWire wrote that "Beyoncé managed to fit the whole spectacle into a euphoric, triumphant, and exhaustingly fierce documentary that should help see Beychella enshrined as one of the definitive pop culture events of the century."[54]
Tobi Oredein ofMetro described howHomecoming "reminds us that Beyoncé isn't just the greatest entertainer of all time, but the most exciting visionary in entertainment today."[55] Andrea Valdez and Angela Watercutter ofWired namedHomecoming as a "once-in-a-lifetime performance by one of the world's greatest living artists that our hyperconnected world allows everyone to celebrate together."[56] Danielle Cadet wrote for Refinery29 that the film showcases Beyoncé's "world-class talent and work ethic, proving no one ever has nor ever will do it like she does."[57]
Barrett Holmes ofBBC described the film as "much more than a film about the first black woman to headline the Coachella music festival," saying "through including quotes and audio from black leaders and intellectuals,Homecoming displayed the beauty of black culture, and gave people the chance to celebrate the necessity of black education.....It is a celebration of black American culture with education, specificallyHistorically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), serving as the foundation of her message."[58] Judy Berman ofTime magazine stated that the film "recontextualizes the show in a way that claims the most influential live music event in North America for black culture."[59]
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé was named the greatest documentary of 2019 byThe Daily Dot.[60] The film was also included inPaste's list of the 15 best documentaries of 2019.[61]Decider journalist Claire Spellberg placedHomecoming at number two on her list of the best in television and film in 2019.[62] Homecoming was also named the third best movie of any genre of 2019 by both Thomas Atkinson forThe Skinny[63] and Ken Bakely forFilm Pulse,[64] whileDecider named it seventh best.[65]Homecoming ranked at number 1 onMetacritic's list of the best miniseries, TV movies and specials of 2019,[66] and at number two onRotten Tomatoes' list of the Best Reviewed TV & Streaming Movies of the same year.[67] TheLos Angeles Times ranked Beyoncé's Coachella set andHomecoming was placed at number 1 on its "The Millennium 200" list chronicling the greatest pop culture moments of the first 20 years of the millennium.[68]Homecoming was declared byLetterboxd as the fourth greatest documentary or non-fiction film of the decade (2010s).[69]Homecoming was included inInsider's list of the "21 Netflix originals everyone should watch in their lifetime, according to critics".[70]
The film wonBest Music Film at the62nd Annual Grammy Awards, marking the second winner in this category to be directed or co-directed by the artist, and the first individual African-American female artist to win since Janet Jackson in 1989.[71]
Following the performance, Destiny's Child sales boosted by 767% and Beyoncé's by 228%,[88] withLemonade returning to number one on the worldwideiTunes chart, where it remained for two days.[89] "Everybody Mad" saw a boost in sales and streams[90] and went viral, inspiring others to do the dance.[91][92][93][94] Beyoncé's customBalmain outfit during her performances, most notably the yellow and pink Homecoming hoodie, resulted in a 58% increase in searches for Balmain hoodies after her performance.[95] English singerRita Ora said that she was inspired by Beyoncé's performance when trying to perfect her own performances, calling it the "real deal" and saying "When I watched that, I completely got it."[96] English rapperStormzy said he "scrapped" hisWireless Festival performance after seeing Beyoncé's performance, saying "if that's what Beyoncé's doing, yo, we've got to buckle up our ideas over here."[97] Footage from the performance featured inGoogle's 2020 'Most Searched: A Celebration of Black History Makers' ad as the most searched performance.[98]
Beyoncé was the first black woman to headline Coachella,[19] and was set to be the second woman to headline ever, the first in a decade, until she dropped out due to her pregnancy.[99]Vogue credited Beyoncé as "(setting) the stage for a new era of female domination" at the festival.[100]Homecoming also inspired the comeback of Irish groupWestlife, who stated that in the film "you could see how much of a captain [Beyoncé] was on her own ship."[101] Cuban-American singerCamila Cabello said thatHomecoming had a profound impact on her, and praised the significance of the performance to humanity.[102] South Korean musicianWooseok citedHomecoming as his inspiration, praising its "quotes and lessons" and revelations of Beyoncé's "morals and work ethic".[103] The cast ofQueer Eye paid tribute toHomecoming during their performance onLip Sync Battle.[104] A 9-feet-tall statue of Beyoncé as seen on theHomecoming poster was unveiled atMercedes-Benz Arena inBerlin.[105]UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis performed a routine inspired byHomecoming, receiving a score of 9.975 as well as praise from celebrities after going viral on social media.[106][107]
Through the tribute to HBCU culture inHomecoming, Beyoncé increased people's interest in HBCUs. High school seniors citedHomecoming as the reason that they were considering attending HBCUs,[108] while younger students were also said to be interested in HBCUs due to the film.[109] American actressRegina Hall opened theBET Awards 2019 with an homage toHomecoming entitled "Homegrown", parodying the opening to Beyoncé's performance as well as the documentary sections of the film.[110] American sitcomGrown-ish also paid homage toHomecoming.[111]
Homecoming has been said to have set a trend of musicians releasing a film project on Netflix together with an album;Lonely Island'sThe Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience,Thom Yorke'sAnima,Sturgill Simpson'sSound & Fury, andKid Cudi'sEntergalactic are all cited as examples of projects that have followed the precedent thatHomecoming set.[112]Travis Scott's documentaryLook Mom I Can Fly has also been cited as a film that follows in the footsteps ofHomecoming.[113]Lizzo's music video for "Good as Hell" was said to be inspired byHomecoming.[114] Sheldon Pearce forPitchfork wrote thatHomecoming kickstarted the "ongoing uprising" where "black women have been demanding ownership of their outsized impact on culture";Jamila Woods'LEGACY! LEGACY! andRapsody'sEve, as well as exhibitions such as "Black Women: Power and Grace" and "Posing Modernity", are mentioned as later works that constitute the "formative syllabus" that started withHomecoming.[115]
Canadian actressSandra Oh dedicated her toast at theTime 100 Gala to the film, calling it "viscerally inspiring".[116]Chelsea Clinton, in an interview withThe Cut, complimented Beyoncé on working "herself body, mind, heart, soul, and spirit to get to that place" where she can perform after her difficult childbirth.[117] American actressSophia Bush said that withHomecoming, Beyoncé is "setting a really killer example for the creative process"."[118] FormerFirst LadyMichelle Obama praised Beyoncé'sHomecoming, calling the film a tool to "inspire the next generation of history makers and record breakers who'll run the world in the next years ahead."[119]The Hollywood Reporter published an essay onHomecoming by American screenwriter, producer, and actressLena Waithe, where she praisedHomecoming "a tribute to blackness" and "a love letter to historically black colleges and universities".[120]
Many celebrations forBlack History Month 2020 commemoratedHomecoming.Georgia Southern University hosted a panel discussion for Black History Month on the cultural and social importance ofHomecoming to African-Americans.[121] Advertising agency Momentum Worldwide (part ofMcCann Worldgroup) curated a "Black History Museum", which exhibited merchandise fromHomecoming,[122] whilst Spark Noir hosted a screening ofHomecoming followed by a discussion about Beyoncé's contribution to culture.[123]Netflix featuredHomecoming under "Black Superheroes" in their Black History Month collection amongst comic-book heroes such asBlack Panther andLuke Cage.[124]
Music director Derek Dixie spoke onHomecoming being nominated for anEmmy Award: "(Beyoncé) has tons and tons of classic records that when putting the show together, you have to maintain the classic feel of the record but make it feel like you're in a stadium at homecoming."[125] Ric Lipson of Stufish, who designed the pyramidal stage forHomecoming, said "we've never really won — or been nominated for even — a prestigious thing like the Emmys. We all knew this was going to be something special, but I don't think anyone realized how special." Lipson described the work onHomecoming as "a great challenge", since he needed to fulfil Beyoncé's vision "which was to evoke the aesthetic and energy of American historic black colleges, yet still look like a work of art." Stufish designed dozens of pyramid structures for the stage, with the final design "literally pushing the boundaries of what the festival would allow."[126] This stage was also displayed at the 2019Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, whichLos Angeles Times calls "a living piece of Beychella history".[127]
The REACH Opening Festival at theKennedy Center closed with a screening ofHomecoming: A Film by Beyoncé.[128] TheMuseum of the Moving Image screenedHomecoming as part of Curators' Choice 2019.[129] Red Hot Arts in Australia hosted an outdoor screening ofHomecoming singers and musicians playing tribute to the film.[130]Balmain creative directorOlivier Rousteing described Beyoncé as a visionary, saying "She really is an inspiration — she wants to share a vision with you, and there are never any limits.", and spoke on Beyoncé's opening costume, saying the team "wanted to create something truly iconic, something that instantly felt forever and timeless and historic."[131] He also said "The strength of Beyoncé is whatever she does, a lot of people are inspired by her. [But] when you do one thing for Beyoncé, no one can have the same thing".[132]
Tyler Perry paid homage to the performance and the documentary in his 2022 Netflix filmA Madea Homecoming.[133] In 2023,Homecoming was included in the series “Summer of Music: Concert Films 1959–2020”, a retrospective of concert movies to be exhibited by theAcademy Museum of Motion Pictures between July and August of said year.[134]
^"NME Awards 2020: Winners".NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs. February 12, 2020.Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 14, 2020.
