Region | Exclusive: Beyoncé in concert at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille in June

When talking about Beyoncé, don’t be afraid to use superlatives. Qualified as a musical artist of the 2000s by many American newspapers and magazines, she is also the most awarded female artist and ranks second behind Michael Jackson. With her 190 million records sold, to which can be added the 65.5 million copies sold with the group from her debut Destiny’s Child (from 1997 to 2005), the Texan, who has become international queen of r’n’b, is one of the most influential people in the world. The couple she forms with another American superstar, rapper Jay-Z, with whom she had three children, has finished establishing her legend. His latest album Renaissance, released in the summer of 2022, again broke all records, securing the best start for an album released by a woman last year (the only artist to have done better is Harry Styles with Harry’s House). .

Sunday June 11 in Marseille

With this seventh opus which, subtitled Act I, seems to announce a trilogy, Beyoncé has embarked on a world tour. That’s what she just announced. And among the 10 dates in Europe given in the spring of 2023, is Marseille and its decidedly legendary stadium, on Sunday June 11! A concert all the more eventful as the one nicknamed Queen B had not played in Provence since 2007 (read below) and that only two concerts will take place in France this year, with the Stade de France in Paris . The Renaissance World Tour will also pass through Stockholm, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Sunderland, London for two dates, Amsterdam and Warsaw.

Back after 4 years away

With this album where, on the cover, Beyoncé appears half-naked on a silver horse, the 41-year-old diva calls to free herself thanks to feverish and rhythmic titles, conducive to vocal performances and certainly stunning shows. “My intention was to create a safe place, without judgement. (…) A place to scream, to release, to feel freedom. (…) I hope this will encourage you to let go. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong and sexy as you are”, she explained on her website when the album was released. The promise of a big party at the Vélodrome … and which should quickly make people forget the controversy triggered by his concert given on January 21 in Dubai, in a luxury hotel, the Atlantis The Royal. For this return to the scene after four years of absence, Beyoncé would have received 24 million dollars. And, while Renaissance can be seen as a tribute to black and queer culture (it is dedicated to her gay uncle who died of AIDS in the 1990s), the LGBTQ+ community is outraged that she chose a country where her rights are not recognized.

Because, in addition to the musical and financial empire that she has built with her husband Jay-Z (estimated at one billion dollars), Beyoncé’s notoriety is also based on her political awakening. Her humanitarian commitments since 2005 after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans are accompanied by an increasingly muscular and vibrant discourse in favor of women and the African-American cause. The Vélodrome is thus preparing to welcome a black queen with a raised fist.

Beyoncé biography

September 4, 1981. Born in Houston, Texas. She is the daughter of Mathew Knowles, music producer, and Celestine Ann “Tina” Beyoncé, stylist and seamstress, with whom she founded the clothing lines House of Deréon in 2005 and Sasha Fierce in 2009.

1990. Formation of the group which will become Destiny’s Child in 1997. The 2nd album The Writing’s on the Wall in 1999 is the most sold with more than 15 million copies.

2002. Meeting with Jay-Z. They married in 2008 and gave birth to 3 children, a daughter in 2012 and twins in 2017.

2003. First solo album Dangerously in Love.

2005. Official separation from Destiny’s Child.

2006. She was twice nominated for the Golden Globes for her role in the film Dreamgirls. Release of his second album B’Day.

2008. Release of her 3rd album I Am… Sasha Fierce. Will follow 4 in 2011 and BEYONCÉ in 2013.

2014. On the Run Tour is Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s joint world tour. The couple reiterates in 2018.

2016. In her 6th opus Lemonade, she denounces her husband’s adultery and racial discrimination.

2018. She is the first black woman to headline the famous Coachella festival.

His last visit to Marseille dates back to May 2007 when 8,000 fans attended the incendiary show of the already undisputed star of r’n’b, recently emancipated from his trio Destiny’s Child. After waiting very long minutes, bought “a poster at 5€” Where “panties stamped “naughty girl” (“mean girl”) at 30€”, the spectators had seen their Queen appear in a thick smoke, long affected pose and fireworks. In her silver dress (then green, then silver, then again silver…), the Texan diva with soft curls and slender legs, had then proposed a show to her excess, with “an armada of musicians (her” female band ” , as she says), a squad of dancers, screens everywhere, constant changes of outfits … In the service of a rather stunning stage presence”, we read in La Provence the day after her concert.

“His thing at B? The suave, the sensual, the sexy. It dances and it sways on high heels and on millimeter choreographies” to the infernal rhythm of the hits that she then drew from just two solo albums (Dangerously In Love released in 2003 and B’Day released in 2006) without forgetting those of her group Destiny’s Child which, after 14 years of career, had dissolved in 2005. From Beautiful Liar to Survivor, from Flaws & All to Say My Name, she concluded her show with the song Irreplaceable. Irreplaceable indeed.

The tour that passes through the Dôme in 2007 is called Beyoncé Experience, it is the artist’s third world tour. Verdict of experience? “The Dome remains baba. He came to admire a beauty, he discovers a beast of the stage”.

After spending the night at the Sofitel Vieux-Port in Marseille, the American star then flew to Lyon, inflicting the same fate on his fans at the Halle Tony-Garnier the next day. Beyoncé had then given only three concerts in France, with Paris a few days earlier. It was his first time solo in our country, and the only time in Marseille. She has since, on each of her world tours, played in the capital, but also in 2009 in Strasbourg and in 2018 in Nice. Sixteen years later, Queen B is back in Provence. More powerful than ever.