Tina Knowles responds to claim Beyoncé intentionally skipped Lizzo’s name from ‘Break My Soul’ live performance
Tina Knowles – the mother of pop icon Beyoncé – has spoken out about the singer leaving out Lizzo’s name during a live rendition of ‘Break My Soul’, saying that the decision has nothing to do with recent allegations.
Rumours about Beyoncé drawing reference to the recent controversy surrounding Lizzo arose earlier this week, when the ‘Single Ladies’ singer chose to omit the latter’s name from one of her performances.
Performing at Foxborough, Massachusetts on Tuesday (August 1) as part of her hit ‘Renaissance’ tour, Beyoncé played ‘Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)’, which sees her begin to list off a number of iconic and boundary-breaking Black female artists.
While the original lyric reads: “Rosetta Tharpe, Santigold, (Vogue) Bessie Smith, Nina Simone (Vogue), Betty Davis, Solange Knowles. Badu, Lizzo, Kelly Rowl”, fan-captured footage shows the singer skim over Lizzo’s name and instead repeat Erykah Badu’s name four times.
Following the set, fans were quick to speculate that this was related to the recent allegations raised against Lizzo that same day – which see her accused of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.
The ‘About Damn Time’ singer is being sued by three of her former dancers, who recall her pressuring a co-worker to touch a naked performer in an Amsterdam club and subjecting dancers to “excruciating” auditions. The suit also cites claims of religious and racial harassment, false imprisonment, interference with prospective economic advantage and more.
However, Beyoncé’s mother Tina Knowles has now taken to social media to quash any speculation about Tuesday’s show, and told fans that the adjusted version of the track had nothing to do with the claims.
She made the update as a comment on an Instagram post, which saw a fan claim that the singer changed the lyric to subtly criticise Lizzo and Badu and “hitting 2 birds with one stone”.
Responding, Knowles wrote: “She also didn’t say her own sisters name yal should really stop.” This is in reference to Solange Knowles’ name also being omitted from the performance. Additionally, former Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland was also not mentioned in the specific performance. Find the original post below.
Some fans were quick to show their solidarity with the comment, with one responding “Thank you for setting the record straight Ms. Tina,”, while another agreed, writing: “Say it mama Tina.”
Following the accusations, NME reached out to Lizzo’s representatives for comment.
In other Beyoncé news, on Saturday (July 29), the singer paid tribute to a professional dancer who was fatally stabbed after dancing to her music.
Some fans have also shared their upset with some tickets offered for both her ‘Renaissance’ tour and Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour – showing how both ‘restricted view’ and ‘listen only’ tickets are being advertised for close to $50 (£38) each.
The post Tina Knowles responds to claim Beyoncé intentionally skipped Lizzo’s name from ‘Break My Soul’ live performance appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME
