Music Icon Beyoncé Confirms She’s Retiring From Pop Music

Beyoncé just made a major revelation about her career in a profile with GQ.

Pop icons don’t get much more iconic than Beyoncé. While she rose to fame as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, she quickly became a cultural icon as a solo singer known for hits such as “Crazy in Love,” “Halo,” and “Formation.”

At this point, Beyoncé – whose full name is Beyoncé Knowles-Carter – is such a dominant force in the industry that she doesn’t really need to do the legwork required earlier in her career. Her most recent albums haven’t received heavy promotion, with a private show in Dubai in January 2023 marking Beyoncé’s first live performance since 2018.

She’s also started exploring more alternative career paths, such as releasing the documentary “Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé” – documenting her headlining performance at the Coachella Music Festival – on Netflix and voicing Nala in Disney’s live-action remake, The Lion King (2019). She also produced and curated a companion album for the film, “The Lion King: The Gift,” as well as fronting its visual film for Disney+, Black Is King (2020).

Last year saw Beyoncé step back into the pop star role by embarking upon the Renaissance World Tour (which briefly held the title of the highest-grossing tour by a female artist until being overtaken by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour), while this summer marked the release of her first country album, “Cowboy Carter.”

But as per Beyoncé, she has no plans of going back to the traditional pop star formula. In a recent interview with GQ, the singer revealed that she is fully retired from that lifestyle.

“I retired from the formula of the pop star a very long time ago,” she said. “I stopped focusing on what’s popular and began focusing on the qualities that get better with time and experience. Good music and strong messages will never retire.”

While that doesn’t necessarily mean Beyoncé will give up on music any time soon, it does seem certain that she won’t be following the traditional formula of the album-promotion-tour cycle. She’s already spent several years making it clear that her career follows a different path from that of her competitors, including jumping between genres and exploring new ventures. Her time as a traditional pop star may be at an end – but we’re what’s to come is even better.

What do you think of Beyoncé retiring from the traditional pop formula?