Baby, Come Over: ‘Hairspray’ Actress Goes Into Labor During Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Birthday Show
Beyoncé‘s Renaissance World Tour birthday show was easily one of the biggest events of the year — from a surprise appearance from the legendary Diana Ross to Hairspray actress Sarah Francis Jones going into labor at the sold-out concert.
“Beyonce induced my baby,” read a video shared by Jones and her partner, The Neighborhood actor Marcel Spears. The clip, which they posted on Instagram, finds a very pregnant Jones having the time of her life at the Renaissance World Tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. The montage then cuts to Jones delivering and breastfeeding her new baby.
“We thought it was just Braxton hicks or gas,” she wrote in the caption of another video. “Turns out we were having a whole baby at @beyonce bday show.” Not only does Jones’ bundle of joy share a birthday with Queen Bey, Jones also went into labor on Labor Day.
The Sep. 4 show was the last night of Beyoncé’s three-date mini-residency at SoFi Stadium. The “Cuff It” singer is gearing up for the final few shows of the North American leg of her blockbuster tour. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Beyoncé earned $141.4 million on the first 12 Renaissance shows in the U.S. and Canada, selling 553,000 tickets. That puts the tour’s overall figures at $295.8 million and 1.6 million tickets (as of Aug. 1), making it Beyoncé’s highest-grossing tour yet, passing 2016’s The Formation World Tour ($256.1 million) and 2018’s On the Run II Tour alongside Jay-Z ($253.5 million).
In addition to a fashion movement based on silver and chrome designs, the Renaissance World Tour has also spawned the “Everybody On Mute Challenge” — a hilarious competition to see which stadium can actually remain completely quiet when she sings the line “Look around/ Everybody on mute” from Renaissance album cut “Energy” (with BEAM). It turns out that even Jones’ baby wanted to participate. “And it was at that moment that my contractions started,” Jones wrote in the caption of a video of the moment. “Baby wanted to be part of the mute challenge so bad!”
Sarah Francis Jones portrayed Janetta in the 2007 film adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical Hairspray. Her other credits include Honey (2003), Jump In! (2005), Camp Rock (2008), Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Descendants 3 (2019), Julie and the Phantoms (2020) and the Emmy-nominated HBO sci-fi drama The Last of Us (2023).
Check out Jones’ video below.
Kyle-Brandon Denis
Billboard
