Beyoncé says fame can “feel like a prison”

Although Beyoncé is one of the most famous women in the world, she has a reputation for remaining aloof and mysterious. Her public appearances are rare, even when she is releasing an album. And in a new GQ In his cover story published on Tuesday (September 10), the multi-talented artist explains why.

In the interview conducted via email, Bey spoke openly about how she enjoys creating art and performing — but everything else that comes with being a superstar? Not so much. “I create things at my own pace that I hope will touch other people,” she told the publication. “I just work on what frees me.”

“Sometimes fame can feel like a prison,” Bey continued. “So if you don't see me on red carpets and if I disappear until I have art to share, that's why.”

Because of her love of music, the 32-time Grammy winner has not shied away from experimenting with new genres – for example, with her country LP, which topped the Billboard 200 chart. Cowboy Carter — and making albums based on what she loves, not what's popular at the time. For example, in 2011, when she could have played it safe by releasing a dance-pop album to keep up with the radio-friendly trends of the time, she instead released 4.

“I wouldn't say I was against pop,” she recalls of the 13-year-old project. “I respected pop. But it was a time when everyone was doing pop/dance music and R&B and soul were getting lost. It was popular and fun, but it wasn't my thing. That wasn't what I wanted to do with my music career at the time. I was longing for something deeper with more musicality.”

The cover story comes amid fans’ outrage over Cowboy Carter was banned from the CMA Awards, eight years after the incident that Bey seemingly hinted in March was the catalyst for her releasing a country album in 2024. In 2016, her performance of “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks at the awards show sparked backlash from critics who felt she didn't belong in the realm; nearly a decade later, the singer wrote on social media: Cowboy Carter was “the result of an experience” she had years before in which she “did not feel welcome.”

But as Bey said GQshe would still sing even if she no longer had a stage. “Singing is not work for me,” she says. “It's magical how it feels in my throat, a resonance that vibrates through me. When I'm at my worst, when I'm sad or foggy, sick or anxious with sleepless nights, then I sing. And often I sing alone.”

“It stabilizes my heartbeat, it's my best dopamine rush,” she added. “It's one of the deepest joys of my life, a necessity as vital as breathing.”

See Bey's cover of GQ below: