beyonce tour vs taylor tour

I saw both Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and Beyoncé's Renaissance World tour. Both shows were memorable but only one was a once-in-a-lifetime concert.

Both pop stars put on incredible shows, but the renaissance world tour was unmatched in its presentation and cohesion. scott legato/tas23/getty images for tas rights management/kevin mazur/wireimage for parkwood.

• I saw both Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour.
• While both concerts were memorable, only Beyoncé's was a once-in-a-lifetime show. 
• Renaissance felt thematic and cohesive, while the Eras Tour's ambition left it feeling scattered.

It's the great battle of our time: both Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are on tour.

The fights between the Bey Hive and Swifties on Twitter would make you believe there's a war between these two artists. But actually, it's very easy to be a fan of both — take it from me!

I was lucky enough to snag tickets to both Swift's Eras Tour and Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour this year. So allow me to settle this conflict. 

Both concerts were memorable and I love both artists, but it's clear: Queen Bey still reigns.  

The Renaissance show was electric, a once-in-a-lifetime event featuring a polished set list and stylish production that never lost momentum.

That's not to say the Eras Tour wasn't fantastic — its epic scale certainly brought me to my knees — but seeing the Renaissance World Tour was far more worthwhile. 

Swift's Eras Tour was a true greatest-hits show

I saw Swift at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in late May and was blown away by her performance. Before you ask: No, I didn't attend one of Swift's famously beloved rain shows . I was at the third and final Eras performance at Gillette, and thankfully stayed dry. 

I sat just a few rows off the stadium floor, close enough to see Swift without squinting but still at a distance to see the entire stage. Despite the Ticketmaster fiasco , I felt like I had secured good seats and somehow managed not to break the bank. 

The show was an expansive three-hour journey through Swift's discography, an impressive attempt to cover her entire career.

Swift traced her country roots with "Fearless" before digging into the electropop of "Reputation" and her latest pop endeavor, "Midnights." Every album — except Swift's debut, which is sadly absent from the setlist — got a moment to shine.

But Eras felt too big for its own good

There's no denying that Swift has the hits — even my grandmother hums "Shake It Off" when she hears it on the radio.

But with a three-hour concert and two opening acts, time was precious. The set list had an ebb and flow of sorts, like Swift was trying to go through her catalog by contrasting slower, stripped-back songs with her big pop anthems. This just didn't work for me, resulting in more of a mishmash than a cohesive work.

Some eras, particularly "Evermore" and "Midnights," were too long and quickly wore out their welcome. Others, such as "Folklore," came at awkward times in the concert when I wasn't sure if I wanted to sit down for a bit or make a quick bathroom break. Even "Red," my favorite, hit a roadblock with the 10-minute version of "All Too Well." That song is just too long!

There were similar lulls in the production and concert visuals. It was whiplash to go from intimate singer-songwriter Swift sitting alone at her piano to pop-diva Swift strutting around with her backup dancers.

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Maybe it's a tall order for Swift to even explore her discography like this in the first place — for an artist that's made music in so many different genres, one big concert showcasing all of them is sure to have its stumbles from time to time. 

Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour never missed a beat

Beyoncé's renaissance world tour never lost its momentum. chris panella/kevin mazur/wireimage for parkwood.

Beyoncé also brought the heat.

I saw Beyoncé at the historic Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, in early June. The floor of the stadium was general admission, and I really enjoyed standing there packed around other fans.

I never once wished I had gotten a seat up in the stands — if you have the chance to see Beyoncé in general admission, you take it. 

The two-and-a-half hour show started with Beyoncé belting some of her ballads, "Dangerously In Love," "Flaws And All," and "1 + 1."

She also performed "River Deep, Mountain High" in tribute to the late Tina Turner ; there wasn't a dry eye in the stadium.

After a few songs, Bey transitioned into "Renaissance," beginning with "I'm That Girl." Most songs off the album got time to shine. Notably absent from the set, though, were "Thique" and "All Up in Your Mind" — two personal favorites of mine, but I forgive Bey for not including them.

Renaissance was a curated showcase of joy and art, with strong themes and visuals

Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour never lost momentum. Any interlude or break in the setlist was filled with impressive dancers or teases for those long-awaited "Renaissance" visuals .

The energy was high the entire show, leaving little time for anyone to guess what she'd perform next. That's not to say that Bey didn't slow things down. She sang a stirring rendition of "Plastic Off the Sofa" before switching to the dizzying disco of "Virgo's Groove," but I never felt like there was a lull the entire performance.

Part of that may be Beyoncé's presence. It was impossible to keep my eyes off her. She danced full-out, hit every note, and dominated the stage with just a hair flip. She gave it her all even when she was just lying down in a giant clam shell. 

And while Beyoncé has certainly amassed many hits throughout her decades-long career, she made sure to tighten the focus of this concert on her most recent album. Some older favorites, such as "Freakum Dress," only got a snippet of airtime, but it was still enough to send fans into a frenzy.

That differs heavily from my experience with the Eras Tour, where I sometimes couldn't wait for songs to end. At the Renaissance World Tour, I wanted more. 

Renaissance felt like a celebration with everyone in the audience

The Renaissance World Tour also  celebrated the LGBTQ+ community and ballroom culture in a way I'd never seen during a concert from a major music artist before.

That made the show feel bigger than Beyoncé — rather than focusing on her greatest hits or biggest music, the concert was a celebratory experience.

While I waited for the show to begin, the stage's graphic displays the Progress Pride Flag, signaling to attendees that this show is a safe space for the entire LGBTQ+ community. Ballroom culture was front and center the entire concert, culminating in a final voguing sequence between all of Beyoncé's dancers.

And after the show ended, a picture of Uncle Johnny — Beyoncé's late gay uncle to whom she's dedicated "Renaissance" — appeared, seemingly ending the concert by showing the person that inspired Beyoncé's love and appreciation for the LGBTQ+ community. It was a touching moment that brought everything full circle.

I'm glad I saw both Swift and Beyoncé while they embark on their juggernaut tours this year.

But the Renaissance World Tour felt like a defining moment thanks to its curated set list and Beyoncé's hypnotizing stage presence.

Taylor Swift is pop concert royalty, no doubt, but there's still only one Queen.

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Beyonce's Renaissance and Taylor Swift's Eras have changed tours forever, here's how they stack up

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: When two of the greatest musical artists ever embark on world tours, their fans are no wonder left in awe. Adding to the musical extravagance and spectacular visuals, Beyonce 's Renaissance World Tour and Taylor Swift 's The Eras Tour are dealing with numbers sufficient enough to boggle the mind of mere mortals.

With Queen Bey concluding her 'Renaissance Tour' on Sunday, October 1 at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, it is estimated that the tour has generated $4.5 billion for the American economy, per The New York Times .

While the 'Halo' singer recently dropped the curtains on her colossal spectacle, Swift is still very much on her tour, conquering cities after cities. Here we will make an in-depth comparison of the two mega global tours.

The Eras Tour vs The Renaissance Tour

Like 'Barbenheimer', the mega-tours of the two entertainers have set the box office ablaze. After a lull due to Covid-19, the two heavyweights of the music industry came back with a vengeance and conquered the hearts of millions.

Official announcement

While Beyonce teased about an upcoming tour on October 23, 2022, by auctioning a pair of tickets for an unspecified concert, per Evening Standard, the 'Single Ladies' crooner announced the concert tour on February 1, 2023.

Similarly, Swift also hinted at a tour in October 2022 during her appearances on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' and 'The Graham Norton Show'. On November 1, the 'Lover' singer announced her 'The Eras Tour' on Good Morning America and her Instagram, describing it as "a journey through the musical eras of [her] career".

          View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR 🪩 (@renaissancetour2023)

Official kick-off dates

Beyonce kicked off her record-breaking concert on May 10, 2023, at the Friends Arena in Sweden. Swift, on the other hand, performed on her first show for the tour at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on March 17.

          View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by The Eras Tour (@taylorerastour)

Date of conclusion

Beyonce concluded the Renaissance Tour on October 1 after performing at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The 'Anti-Hero' songstress, on the other hand is scheduled to perform for another year before tentatively concluding on November 23, 2024 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Number of shows

Swift, initially announced to have a total of 52 shows per Billboard. Ever since, she has been adding shows to her concert and currently the number stands at a whopping 146 performances.

The mother of Blue Ivy, on the other hand, concluded her tour after performing in 56 concerts.

Number of songs played

Per Slate , Beyonce's set was composed of 35 songs, whereas Swift has a fixed set of 44 songs comprising of a selection from her entire career plus two surprise songs.

Time span of each concert

For performing her 46-song-list, Taylor Swifts spends 3 hours and 23 minutes on an average on stage, with some shows going north of 3 hours 30 minutes. Beyonce's concert, on the other hand clocked an average of 2 hours 29 minutes.

On an average, Swift changes her costumes 16 times per show where her dresses are in accordance to the theme and color palette of her different eras. Not only the costumes, but also her microphones and guitars are in accordance to the theme of her different eras.

Beyonce, on the other hand, changed outfits at least 9 times in her concert performance. Her tour generated at least $187 million in media impact value for the fashion brands, per Vogue .

Number of tickets sold

Beyonce's tour has been attended by more than 2.2 million people, and grossed $579 million, per Variety Magazine .

The number of footfalls for the Eras Tour is rising every day. Per Fortune and several other reports, The Eras Tour is projected to be the first tour ever to surpass $1 billion mark in the box office with the probability of grossing $2.2 billion from North America alone.

Both the two superstars have announced films based on their respective concerts. Swift announced the release of her concert film 'Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour' directed by Sam Wrench. The concert recorded at the SFi Stadium in Los Angeles, it will be released worldwide on October 13, 2023.

On October 1, Beyonce announced the release of her concert film 'Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce' and is scheduled to be released on December 1, 2023.

Compensating for the lull period created due to the pandemic, the two entertainers have contributed hugely to the US economy. With massive fanfare and staggering numbers, Beyonce and Taylor Swift have gifted the world two of the largest spectacles of music.

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Taylor Swift’s “Eras” Tour vs. Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” Tour, in Charts

Which singer boasts the longest set list the most costume changes the most horses on stage.

Everyone is talking about the biggest movie battle of the year , but no one is talking about this summer’s other, equally important double feature: Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster-crashing “Eras” tour vs. Beyoncé’s record-breaking “Renaissance” tour. Now, here at Slate we’re not in the habit of pitting women against each other. But we are interested in celebrating the massive achievements of two of our most influential entertainers. In order to do that, it’s helpful to know just how massive these achievements are, especially when the two tours are projected to become the highest grossing of all time. And maybe you, like many unlucky others who couldn’t snag a coveted ticket to one or both, are wondering how they measure up to each other. We are on the case.

With the recent announcement of an additional extension, Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour will wind up lasting for a year and a half, with her first date having occurred in March 2023 and her last (for now, at least) set for November 2024. Beyoncé, on the other hand, doesn’t have time for all that! In addition to being a superstar, she’s also a mother! Her “Renaissance” tour will run from May to October , barring any extensions.

While individual concerts on each tour vary in length, Swift’s career-spanning run-through generally clocks in at over three hours , sometimes as long as 3 hours and 30 minutes . Overall, Setlist.fm estimates that the average show length on the “Eras” tour is 3 hours, 23 minutes . Meanwhile Beyoncé’s traveling ballroom is more unpredictable—sometimes over three hours , sometimes closer to two and a half , with Setlist.fm estimating that the average performance is 2 hours, 29 minutes .

Swift takes the lead here with an average set list of 46 songs (including the two “surprise songs” that change each show), which makes sense considering her tour is a celebration of her entire career thus far. Whereas Beyoncé’s is a celebration of something else entirely .

This is for all the Swifties out there wondering how much play time each era gets in her setlist (excluding special songs). #JusticeForSpeakNow!

The three unreleased covers specified here include two sung by Beyoncé: Rose Royce’s “I’m Going Down” (popularized by Mary J. Blige) and a tribute to the late, great Tina Turner with “ River Deep–Mountain High .” The third cover is from Beyoncé’s backup singers, who offer a beautiful rendition of Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover.” Beyoncé also performs her version of “Before I Let Go,” by Maze, but we categorized that with  Homecoming: The Live Album , since that’s where her version was first released.

Though the numbers have changed over time, Taylor Swift goes through about 16 different costumes per show, most of which echo her iconic looks from each respective “era” she reprises. Beyoncé completes about half the amount of quick-changes, instead segmenting her show with visual interludes that allow her to sport around nine different costumes .

Swift may don more outfits per night than Beyoncé, but when it comes to switching looks, overall, it’s Queen Bey who takes the crown. Swift has worn approximately 44 costumes throughout her entire tour—though, I must say, many sources count a simple exchange of kitschy jackets as a whole new outfit, which is a debatable inclusion. By comparison, Beyoncé has worn nothing but the fashions of today’s top designers (including her own Ivy Park line), which she refreshes at nearly every stop on her tour. Her stylist, Shiona Turini, posted on Aug. 28 that after 42 shows in 12 countries, Bey officially wore her 100 th look (a black Loewe dress with a metallic bodice).

At Swift’s Aug. 9 show in Los Angeles, the crowd of 70,000 delivered an impressive eight-minute ovation following her performance of “Champagne Problems,” the extended applause for which has become something of a nightly showstopping ritual . On the other hand, Bey’s production doesn’t allow much time for cheering. But the loudest and longest cheers that have taken place have definitely been for her daughter, Blue Ivy , who often dances during the songs “My Power” and “Black Parade.”

At the end of her show, Beyoncé flies around the stadium on a gigantic silver horse , a reference to her Renaissance album cover . Unsurprisingly, Swift’s show features no equivalent.

Beyoncé’s 23 dancers include the famous duo Les Twins and an official dance credit for Blue Ivy, while Swift boasts a comparatively modest 16 dancers .

After all is said and done, the “Eras” tour will have hosted 10 opening acts , from established groups like Paramore and Haim to up-and-coming indie darlings like Beabadoobee and Girl in Red. In contrast, Beyoncé is her own opening act. [ Update, Sept. 5:  While Beyoncé has not had official openers, she has invited the occasional DJ to curate an opening set, including the musician Arca in June for her Barcelona show. For two of Beyoncé’s Los Angeles concerts at the beginning of September, which celebrated the singer’s Sept. 4 birthday, DJ Khaled filled that slot, bringing out 11 other hip-hop artists: 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Offset, Coi Leray, Roddy Ricch, Lil Wayne, YG, Big Sean, Doechii, O.T. Genasis, and Lil Durk. For the third L.A. performance, taking place on Beyoncé’s actual birthday, she was serenaded by Diana Ross, who sang “Happy Birthday,” and joined by Kendrick Lamar to perform their remix of “America Has a Problem.”]

Swift, very much in the spirit of celebrating other artists and turning her tour into a party, has had five special guests perform with her so far, including frequent collaborator Aaron Dessner of the National and rapper Ice Spice. The number jumps to eight if we’re including her opening acts joining her on stage for a song or two, though that’s less of a surprise. Beyoncé’s show is a tad more structured, and because of that, the only consistent “special” guest she’s brought on stage is her daughter. As of this writing on Sept. 1, the other special guest Beyoncé has featured was another dancer, voguer ChaCha Balenciaga, who performed in Washington, D.C., during the show’s mini ball section .

No tour, no matter how meticulously planned, can go off without a hitch. And it’s safe to say that’s no different for our reigning divas. From our research, we were able to find seven mishaps during Swift’s tour (that were no fault of her own): like when her trap door didn’t open on time , or her mic stopped working , or she swallowed a bug . Meanwhile, Ms. Carter had to work some stage direction into her song when her crew forgot to turn her fan on. There was also that time the aforementioned giant flying horse malfunctioned, which visibly annoyed the perfectionist . Nobody’s perfect, but even with equestrian blunders, some of us still come closer than others.

Update, Sept. 7, 2023: This article was updated to clarify that Beyoncé’s version of “Before I Let Go” is both a cover and a song that she previously performed on  Homecoming: The Live Album .

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Beyoncé and Taylor Swift aren’t rivals. So why are they often pitted against each other?

For years, competition has been perpetuated between the two pop stars, despite their distinctively different artistic styles.

For Maddie A., an executive assistant in New York City, Taylor Swift has been with her for every major moment in her life — from high school prom to present day, more than a decade later.

Maddie has also loved Beyoncé Knowles-Carter since childhood, having danced to her music since the pop star's days as a member of the group Destiny's Child.

Both have been the soundtrack to her life, she says.

"Taylor’s debut album came out when I was, like, an emotional 12-year-old. So ‘Teardrops on My Guitar’ really hit home,” says the 29-year-old, who asked not to use her last name because her boss is a public figure. “And Beyoncé definitely, I don't think, is celebrated in the way that Taylor is."

Both Swift and Beyoncé have been touring since this past summer, each performing undisputedly exceptional shows. And each have since announced concert movies that will hit AMC theaters; Swift's "The Eras Tour" premieres Oct. 13, while "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé" was just announced to hit theaters Dec. 1.

With stunning dancers and choreography and amazing special effects, just about everyone interviewed for this story called both concerts “life-changing.” But even as their tours have been lauded for helping to boost the American economy , an old narrative that has intermittently plagued these two artists for years has reemerged:

Are you a Swiftie, or a member of the BeyHive? And who puts on a better show?

Perhaps the more important question, however, is why the comparison between these two radically different female artists is even a question at all. Exquisite Williams, a 23-year-old writer from Atlanta who attended both Swift’s "Eras Tour" and Beyoncé’s "Renaissance World Tour," has an idea.

"The only reason they're getting compared is because they're both at the top of their respective games, and there's no one else to compare them to," she says. "But they're not even peers with one another ... they're not doing the same thing."

She was so passionate about this narrative that in August, she took to X — the platform formerly known as Twitter — to write about it.

"Y’all keep comparing Beyoncé and Taylor I’m gonna start comparing Ed Sheeran and Usher so y’all hear how dumb you sound," she wrote in a now-viral tweet.

Of course, this unspoken rivalry has been brewing for years. For nearly two decades, Swift and Beyoncé have competed against each other for music awards. For many fans, the 2009 moment Kanye West interrupted a then-20-year-old Swift as she accepted the award for the best female video at the MTV Video Music Awards to argue that Beyoncé was more deserving is etched into their brains.

"I'm really happy for you, and I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time," the rapper shouted into the microphone. Later that evening, when Beyoncé won video of the year for "Single Ladies," she invited Swift onto the stage to speak with her.

In the years since, the two have competed for several VMAs, including earlier this year; o n Sept. 12 , they squared off again in several categories. They've also gone head-to-head at the Grammys, with both nominated in 2023 for song of the year and best song written for visual media. And while competition in the music industry is normal, with every award show comes fierce discourse between fandoms on social media, as well as the media, with frequent articles comparing their album and ticket sales .

The comparison might seem inexplicable, but according to experts, the pitting of two women against each other is common in every capacity — from mom-shaming to the workplace. It even has a name: the concept of the "exceptional woman." The idea that there can only be one .

Why is there a perceived rivalry in the first place?

Tammy L. Kernodle, a Miami University musicology professor who specializes in African American music and gender studies in music, explains to TODAY.com that the "exceptional woman" narrative allows the patriarchy to perpetuate a framework that keeps men in power.

"And yes, we have this woman and she's exceptional, but instead of allowing her and those who come behind her (into) this conversation about genius and paradigm shifting cultural expression, they use that exceptional woman to say, 'Look, we've got one.' It's like tokenism."

I think we still are in this place where we (as a country) can't quite make sense of women with power.

She adds that the one accepted woman into the club is then used to "keep other women from being included in these narratives."

Catherine Provenzano, a musicologist and music industry professor who works on pop music at UCLA, echoes Kernodle's comments to TODAY.com, saying that the narrative is all a "well-rehearsed rhetoric."

"I think we still are in this place where we (as a country) can't quite make sense of women with power," she says. "(Beyoncé and Taylor Swift) are two performers that are so singular, and incredibly powerful right now. They are breaking out these financial records, and their shows are getting all this attention that for that to be happening simultaneously just almost doesn't compute with the culture right now."

Kernodle notes that media or fan-created rivalries like this one are nothing new, citing everyone from jazz pianists Mary Lou Williams and Hazel Scott to Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. Even Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, both “American Idol” winners who went on to have successful careers, also have a rumored feud, which they have both adamantly denied .

How fans have perpetuated the dynamic

Kernodle says that when it comes to Beyoncé and Swift, while there are some fans who overlap , there might also be some "identity politics" at play.

"I think marginalized individuals tend to rally around certain artists, and Beyoncé is embracing a culture that is associated so much with the disenfranchised," she says, citing how the singer's use of house music on her "Renaissance" album and tour resonates with the LGBTQ+ community. “Beyoncé is speaking to those individuals and representing those individuals who are oftentimes rendered silent and invisible.”

Swift, on the other hand, didn't enter the world of identity politics until era of her "Lover" album — more than a decade after she first came on the music scene at the age of 16.

In the 2020 Netflix documentary, "Miss Americana," Swift can be seen deciding to take a more political stance by endorsing liberal Tennessee politicians and releasing songs with lyrics like "shade never made anybody less gay!" But the gap — between her first single, "Tim McGraw" in 2006 and the "Lover" album in 2019 — has often been criticized by fans and critics alike.

"It creates this kind of duality," Kernodle goes on to say. "Swift embodies this notion of the youthful, exuberant, beautiful girl, which had always been marketed through popular culture as the ideal of white feminism, or a white feminine identity."

Maddie, the New York-based fan, agrees.

"Taylor Swift has been mainstream, stereotypically, for white women," she says, adding that she identifies as white woman. "People have not always viewed Beyoncé in the same 'wholesome' way they do Taylor. (Beyoncé) does definitely have more sexual lyrics, but that doesn't mean she's not also an amazing, powerful, strong role model for girls and women everywhere."

Kernodle went on to say that it's possible Beyoncé doesn't "speak to (white women) in the same way" that Swift does.

She also adds that there might be a generational difference at play, too. "There's a certain level of worldliness and maturity that comes with Beyoncé," she explains, adding that sensibility can preclude a younger contingent of fans.

"But it also doesn’t always resonate with white suburban women. Some, but not all," she continues. "So I think you have these fandoms creating dynamics that center around our conceptions of beauty and power and agency."

Williams, who is from Atlanta, says being a Black Swiftie can come with its own unique challenges. She compares being a fan of Swift while being Black to attending a predominantly white university.

The attempt to undercut my Blackness because I like pop music is so dumb."

"You're surrounded by all these white people ... and just non-Black people in general," she explains. "I think it's just because white fans dominate the conversations and sometimes it can get real racist real quickly," she says. "And it's like, 'Whoa, I'm right here!'"

She adds that even non-Swifties also share their thoughts, saying things like, "I've never seen a Black Swiftie before."

"And it's like, 'Well, that's just because you don't look!'" Williams says, exasperated. "The attempt to undercut my Blackness because I like pop music is so dumb."

Williams says she faces scrutiny from the Black community, too: "You have Black people who don’t like Taylor Swift, who are also judging you. It’s like 'Wow. Wow.'”

Concerts will 'never be the same after this year'

Rather than focus on rivalry, Provenzano says it would be more productive to note this unique moment in pop culture history. Both Kernodle and Provenzano agree that the summer of 2023 was a watershed moment for live music.

"Concert culture will never be the same," Kernodle says. "Hear me when I say that: It will never be the same after this summer."

It's not just about the ticket sales, or the "spectacle" of each respective show, for which fans came decked out in outfits , Kernodle says. It's about "the level of artistry that you experience" when you're there.

"The experiential element of live music concert was taken to a whole 'nother level. They have transformed the economies of the places that they have gone to. This is paradigm-shifting."

“That’s the thing about these women. Think about what they have done in the context of popular culture over the last 10 years,” Kernodle says. “They've shifted the paradigm — and they’ve shifted the paradigm so much so that the metrics that define excellence can’t keep even keep up.”

Williams says that both concerts were incredible, but “completely different.”

“They’re both so good at what they do,” she says adding that both shows are “kind of like night and day — both options are fantastic.”

When asked if she could ever pick between the two artists — “gun to her head” — she laughs, then jokes:

“No, you’d have to kill me!”

Sam Kubota is a senior digital editor and journalist for TODAY Digital based in Los Angeles. She joined NBC News in 2019.

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Beyoncé and Taylor Swift Shared Spotlights This Year — Their Legacies Are Still Incomparable 

By Larisha Paul

Larisha Paul

Being one-of-one, the number one, the only one has emerged as Beyoncé ’s most prominent creative ethos. This year, she became the most decorated artist in Grammys history and completed the most ambitious tour of her career, bringing her celebration of Black and queer culture on her Renaissance album to stadiums across the world. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift reached an idiosyncratic tier of cultural prominence in her own right, breaking chart records and delivering an extravaganza of her own on the career-spanning stadium run, the Eras tour . Both artists have been building toward these legacy-defining moments for decades. Over that course of time, their narratives have rarely ever overlapped. 

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And while their music may share similar functions in creating spaces of escapism and understanding for their audiences, the two catalogs represent vastly different displays of their artistry. Swift’s skill set as a songwriter is her most championed gift. Her navigation of girlhood and dissection of pivotal interpersonal relationships often spark visceral emotional reactions from listeners. Meanwhile, Beyoncé is a visual and vocal-forward performer. She creates new life from samples and interpolations, intricately stacks vocal harmonies, delivers chilling vocal runs, and builds imagery around her music rooted in the culture that informed it. Beyoncé primarily sculpts where Swift paints. These two artists are no closer in conversation as peers than Michelangelo and Van Gogh. 

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A particularly revealing loss came just this year, when Harry Styles was awarded Album of the Year over Renaissance on the same night when Beyoncé became the most awarded artist in the show’s history with 32 total career wins — but with only one from a Big Four category and nearly two dozen from the R&B, rap, and urban contemporary categories. Beyoncé had once again made history while a white artist received the highest honor of music’s “biggest night.” It could have been argued that there was no need to nitpick about the specifics and that the record alone should have been enough. But it was clear why it wasn’t. As Jay-Z stated in an interview with Tidal a few days before the 2023 ceremony: “We grew up wanting to be on the Grammys, and it was our goal. We just want them to get it right.” 

For three years after Adele’s 25 was awarded Album of the Year over Lemonade at the 2017 Grammy Awards, Beyoncé quietly skipped the annual ceremonies even when she was nominated. Other musicians, including Drake, Frank Ocean, and the Weeknd, have more vocally dismissed the show and criticized the Recording Academy for its undervaluing and attempted humbling of Black artists. “Success looks different to me now,” Beyoncé told Elle in 2020. “My true win is creating art and a legacy that will live far beyond me.”

“She’s such a great disrupter of music-industry norms,” Swift told Time about Beyoncé. “She taught every artist how to flip the table and challenge archaic business practices.” Now, this is where their similarities converge a bit more. For three years after its 2016 release, Lemonade was only available to stream on Tidal, the music service Beyoncé shares with Jay-Z. Swift also had a three-year period, which began in 2014, during which her complete catalog was removed from Spotify. “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for,” she wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that year. In both cases, the only other alternative, really, was to buy the record itself either digitally or physically, which was even more lucrative for their pockets. And their live shows are the real cash cows. 

In August, the New York Times reported estimates that the Eras tour “could generate some $4.6 billion in economic activity in North America alone, taking into account both stadium capacity and people’s reported spending plans on things like tickets, merchandise and travel,” while it was estimated that the Renaissance tour would reach $4.5 billion in spending. The Eras tour concert film , which captured a straight run-through of the three-hour-long show, opened to $92.8 million in North America. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, the latest documentary-concert entry in her legacy-shaping filmography , opened at $22 million. Swift and Beyoncé attended the premieres of each other’s films, which were both distributed internationally through AMC (the artists have both been criticized for screening in Israel while also being praised for not having performed there). 

Swift has arrived at her political positioning in the way many white women do, learning somewhat clumsily where the line is drawn between solidarity and self-preservation. Earlier this year, she was rumored to be dating the 1975 frontman Matty Healy, who had made recent racist comments about Ice Spice. In April, Healy issued a faux-apology to the Bronx rapper. The following month, she appeared on Swift’s now Grammy-nominated “ Karma ” remix. However brief, that moment was indicative of the reasons why Black fans have often had trouble finding space for themselves within her world, despite the accessibility of her music. Swift’s limited understanding of intersectional feminism and what it means to champion other women, even if it isn’t mutually beneficial, has often complicated her professional narrative . 

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Earlier in “Black Theatre,” Teer highlights a key element that informs Beyoncé’s creative ethos, the collective “need to be in an atmosphere that is free, that is open, that is striving for truth and not somebody else dictating to you how to do your thing — which you know how to do better than anybody else.” A few moments later, she makes an unvarnished declaration: “I want to determine my own destiny; I want to determine how I’m going to speak on the stage; I don’t want to be a mass personality; I don’t want to be a one-dimension.”

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‘Taylornomics’ and Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour: what are the most lucrative music tours ever?

It’s a good year for pop music fans, as two of the world’s biggest acts are currently on tour: over the last several months both Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have been travelling the world playing to sold out stadiums.

Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour began in May and saw the artist play five consecutive nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June. Swift’s Eras tour launched in March; she is currently in the US and will play in London next summer.

The tours of both artists have already raked in approximately $300 million each. This places Taylor Swift at the fifth spot and Beyoncé at the sixth spot on the list of the highest-grossing tours of the decade.

But the success of the sold-out shows doesn’t stop there: Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour has broken Beyoncé’s own record, becoming the highest-grossing tour by any Black artist ever, having already made $295 million and with another 20 shows yet to go ahead. Beyoncé has easily surpassed the takings of both her 2016 The Formation World Tour, which earned $256 million, and her 2013-2014 The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, which made $229 million.

And without adjusting for inflation, Beyoncé has also far exceeded the takings of both Michael Jackson’s 1987-1989 Bad World Tour (which earned $125 million) and Tina Turner’s 1987-88 Break Every Rule tour (which earned $60 million).

Similarly, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has already made over $300 million, which has surpassed the takings of her 2015 The 1989 World Tour, which earned $250 million. Her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour made $345 million dollars, and given that Swift is still yet to complete nearly half of her tour, its extremely likely that she will smash her own personal best soon too.

In December, Billboard predicted that Swift would make as much as $590 million when the Eras concerts are completed, and back then the American pop star had only planned 52 stops. Swift has been adding dates to her tour ever since, and she is now set to stage a whopping 146 performances. If Swift continues to make money in line with Billboard’s projections, the artist could make as much as $1 billion by the end of the worldwide tour.

Even if she doesn’t reach that mind-blowing figure, Swift is on track to smash the record for the top female solo artist on the tour money rankings. Madonna currently sits at the top spot: her 2008-2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour made $411 million (which is around $560 million when adjusted for inflation).

Swift is also reportedly having a major financial impact on the cities she visits: “It’s simple Taylornomics: When Taylor Swift comes to town, Swifties go on a spending spree,” said the Wall Street Journal. In July, The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that Swift’s concerts had helped to increase tourism in the region – a pattern that is emerging across the country.

So who tops the charts?

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Elton John is the artist who has earnt the most from a single tour, raking in a whopping $939 million for his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which came to a close in June.

The 76-year Rocket Man singer said goodbye at this year’s Glastonbury, playing to a crowd of approximately 100,000 people – the performance was described by The Standard’s Dylan Jones as “ primal gratification on a massive scale ”.

Ed Sheeran is second on the money list, with his Divide Tour (2017-19) having made $776 million, while U2 sits at third place, with their 360° Tour (2009-2011) having made $736 million.

However, when these figures are adjusted for inflation, it’s reportedly U2 who actually sit at the top of the highest-earners list.

The list of top 20 highest-earning tours of all time includes a number of bands: Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Metallica and The Police; major pop stars: Harry Styles, Madonna, Bruno Mars and Pink; country singers: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood; and standout rock act Roger Waters.

When the list is narrowed down to the top earners of this decade, it shifts to include international acts such as Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Daddy Yankee, showing the diversification of music over recent years.

The 2022 World’s Hottest Tour from Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, who was crowned Spotify’s most-streamed artist last year after clocking 18.5 billion streams, earned $314 million, placing him at fourth place on the list. Meanwhile the K-pop girl group come in at eighth on the list with their ongoing Born Pink World Tour. It has made $220 million so far. The 83-date La Última Vuelta World Tour from Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, made $198 million last year, placing him at ninth on the list.

Coldplay, who have made $617 million and counting from their ongoing Music of the Spheres World Tour, sit at the top of the list.

Taylor Swift is set to play in London on June 21, 22 and 23 and August 15, 16 and 17 2024

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Taylor Swift 'The Eras' Tour vs Beyonce 'Renaissance' Tour: Which One Is The Biggest?

The Swifties and Beyhive have been fighting all over social media, primarily on Twitter, as each of the fandoms asserts dominance over the other on which tour is more successful than the other - is it "The Eras" Tour or "Renaissance" Tour?

Now, reports are finally in as the two tours come to a close on their respective legs. Check out which tour has grossed more than the other.

Beyonce 'Renaissance' Tour Sales, Gross Earnings

According to a Billboard Pro report , Beyonce's "Renaissance" World Tour is the top-grossing touring act of May 2023. The Billboard Boxscore reported that the first nine shows of Beyonce's "Renaissance" World Tour have racked up $67.5 million which equates to 461,000 tickets, making her the highest-grossing act of the month, and the first woman in four years to top the said charts.

But that was just in May, as she culminates the European leg in Warsaw, Poland, Beyonce's "Renaissance" World Tour was reported  to have amassed $154.4 million amounting to 1 million tickets across her 21-date show in Europe.

Billboard also noted that Beyonce's European leg is the biggest among her tours in the past. "The Formation Tour" in 2016 and "On The Run" II Tour collectively earned $87 million only.

Notably, her biggest earner was her five-day show in London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which grossed more than $42.2 million from 240,000 tickets. She is the highest-grossing female, black artist, and any act from the United States to have reaped those numbers.

READ ALSO: Beyoncé 'Renaissance World Tour': Fans Praise Blue Ivy for Gaining More Confidence Each Show

Taylor Swift 'The Eras' Tour Sales, Gross Earnings

In the United States, Taylor Swift is not yet done with her American leg of "The Eras" Tour. As she added more dates to her SoFi Stadium show, her total concerts in the US have now been bumped to a total of 53.

In a recent Pollstar report,  it was expected and projected to rake in a total of $1.4 billion in revenue as she makes her way to Europe in 2024. According to a Variety report , the said "conservative" estimation just relied on the face value of the tickets that were sold out across the announced venues throughout the world.

If the projections would come to fruition, Taylor Swift's "The Eras" Tour would be the biggest tour in history and the first one to reach and surpass the $1 Billion threshold. She would have to beat Elton John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" Tour which generated $884 million only.

'Renaissance' vs 'The Eras'

Based on the present data, we could not exactly conclude whose tour is bigger than what based on the continent each artist is touring on.

Since Swift's 34-date Europe tour would only start next year, we could not compare it to Beyonce's already-finished one. The same goes with Swift who hasn't finished her US Tour, and Beyonce's just about to start.

Since Swift's number isn't out yet, Beyonce remains on top; but given Pollstar's projections Taylor Swift could easily be hailed the winner.

READ ALSO: Taylor Swift 'The Eras' Tour: More Dates for California, Europe Added - Details

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Beyoncé: Renaissance World Tour review – a dizzying three-hour spectacular

Friends Arena, Stockholm Queen Bey’s first solo headline tour in seven years is a lavish leap forward for live entertainment, dripping with sci-fi disco decadence, sex and Black pride

E ven without Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster-melting Eras Tour nipping at her heels, it wouldn’t do for a star as compulsively ambitious as Beyoncé to merely protect her status as the greatest pop show on Earth. Not when her first solo headline tour since 2016 could instead push 21st-century live entertainment another lavish leap forward.

Titled after the Texan’s disco glitter bomb post-pandemic party album of the same name , Renaissance is a monster blockbuster concert experience on a different plane. Fifty-seven stadium dates globally, starting in Stockholm, are projected to gross as much as £1.9bn ($2.4bn) by the time the tour ends in New Orleans late September. Dripping with sci-fi disco decadence, sex, body positivity and feminine Black pride, the near three-hour spectacular plays out in front, behind and, at times, inside a football-pitch-wide high-definition video screen designed to assault the senses at dizzying scale.

The BeyHive, as Beyoncé’s fans collectively style themselves, are buzzing pre-show as they flood into the venue from around the world for their first chance proper to see their queen live since 2018’s On the Run II co-headliner with Mr B, Jay-Z. Dressed head to toe in official tour merch, including a cap and hoodie both emblazoned with the word “THIQUE”, Mykwain Gainey has been to 20 Beyoncé shows over the past two decades and has spent nearly £2,000 to fly here from New York. “To see her transcend, and become what she has become, especially as a Black woman, is exciting,” he enthuses.

Brazilian Yhes Bezerra wears a spangly cowboy hat like the one sported by Beyoncé in the tour poster, except theirs is homemade; sticking on the thousands of tiny mirror panels took nine hours. They were determined to come to the opening night to avoid social media spoilers about what to expect. “I want everything to be a surprise,” Bezerra smiles.

Beyoncé appears first in a video cut scene, laid out luxuriously across the giant screen semi-naked in dimensions big enough to be visible from space. And yet, once she emerges in the flesh – all sequins, shoulder pads and that megawatt smile, drinking in the crowd’s screams – she begins disarmingly with a slew of her rawest soul songs. By the second, Flaws and All, she already appears to be fighting back tears, whether of release or gratitude or both. It’s an opening that seems designed to strip away artifice, if only to provide some sharp contrast for the heavily technologically augmented spectacle about to follow.

Harking back to early house and techno and the ecstatic utopia of the dancefloor, a segment dedicated to the Renaissance album ensues with Beyoncé done up something akin to the Maschinenmensch in Metropolis. She grinds with a dozen backing dancers to the jittery reggaeton of her boss bitch mission statement I’m That Girl, then dances with some actual robots (a pair of mechanical arms) during Cosy. Were all that not semi-hallucinogenic enough, Alien Superstar interpolates narcissistic anthem I’m Too Sexy by 90s dance-pop twosome Right Said Fred.

With many of the setlist’s whopping 36 songs abridged, the tempo is relentless. Blink and you’ll miss dancers popping out of the stage like champagne corks, or Beyoncé’s powerhouse band getting wheeled into occasional view on a tall stepped riser (shades of Beychella), such as during Chic-style feelgood funk workout Cuff It. “Y’all having a good time, Stockholm?” our host inquires, wiping an imperceptible bead of sweat from her brow. “Me too.”

Black Parade finds Beyoncé cruising the stage atop what looks like a kind of lunar rover. Somewhat comically, it exits up the gusset of a pair of massive splayed legs. Later she sings Plastic Off the Sofa stretched out in a clamshell. Come Crazy in Love, the show finally gets the enormous disco ball it seems to have long craved, dangled from the rafters for only a bit longer than the time it takes for the crew to get it up there and back down.

Bass-quaking, envelope-pushing Black power anthem Formation is a powerful political statement in any setting. Performed in a kind of virtual cathedral, horny southern rap and gospel cocktail Church Girl (sample lyric: “drop it like a thottie, drop it like a thottie”) might just be intended to provoke. But by Beyoncé’s own standards, it’s hard not to read Renaissance as a show much lighter on overt socio-political messaging than it is sheer, unfettered, mildly chaotic indulgence. And who could blame her?

In a final, unsubtle, retro-futuristic fanfare, Bey summons Bianca Jagger’s iconic Studio 54 moment by gliding through the air on a glitter-encrusted white horse while Summer Renaissance – which samples Donna Summer’s I Feel Love – blares. The disco history references may or may not be landing with the mostly young BeyHive, but that’s not really the point. By rewiring dance music past in a sensory overload of truly stunning ambition and stamina, Beyoncé is writing some history of her own.

The Renaissance World Tour continues until 27 September, see https://tour.beyonce.com/ for dates

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Why the eras tour is called "taylor's version" on disney+ & how it's different.

There's an explanation for why the title of the documentary Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) has been altered for its Disney+ release.

• Taylor Swift's documentary will be called Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) when it streams on Disney+.
• The alteration to the movie's title is a reference to Taylor Swift's re-recordings of her old albums.
• The streaming version will include unreleased performances not seen in theaters.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour 's title change when it arrives on streaming may lead to some confusion. The documentary, which was directed by Sam Wrench, depicts the titular world tour conducted by pop superstar Taylor Swift, which began in March 2023 and concludes in December 2024. It has already become the highest-grossing tour of all time, earning more than $1 billion. The movie was released in theaters on October 13, 2023, and became a box office smash, earning $261.7 million worldwide and similarly became the highest-grossing concert movie of all time, surpassing 2011's Justin Bieber: Never Say Never .

The Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Disney+ release is set to go live on March 14 at 6:00 p.m. PT. However, the documentary will have the subtitle (Taylor's Version ) appended to the end rather than using the original title with which it ran in theaters in 2023. While this could make the streaming release seem like it's something entirely different from the original movie, there is a very simple explanation for this alteration in the title.

9 Ways Watching Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour On Disney+ Will Be Different From Theaters

The eras tour (taylor's version) title connects to taylor swift's album re-releases, several "taylor's version" albums have already hit the market.

The Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) title is a reference to the star's recently released re-recordings of her albums . These came about because Swift didn't own the masters of the songs she wrote for her albums until leaving Big Machine Records in 2018. Because she owns her masters going forward, she has been recording and releasing new versions of her previous albums, so far putting out Taylor's Version editions of Fearless , Red , Speak Now , and 1989 .

Taylor Swift is still due to release Taylor's Version re-recordings of Taylor Swift and Reputation .

This new title for the documentary is more than just an empty reference to the Taylor Swift re-recordings . As the original tour featured a wide variety of guest performers and surprise bonus songs, there was quite a bit of footage that wasn't included in the theatrical release, which nevertheless ran for 2 hours and 49 minutes. More of these moments will be included in the streaming release, which is why the title references the new versions of albums that Swift has released, utilizing " Taylor's Version " instead of a more standard term like " Uncut " or " Special Edition ."

What's New In Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) On Disney+

Even more the eras tour songs are included.

So far, not every new performance added to Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has been officially announced. However, it has been confirmed that there will be five extra songs , including "Cardigan." The other four, one of which will be "Maroon," are acoustic performances. While this addition won't encompass every single element of the tour that wasn't included in the movie, it is a substantial enough alteration that the documentary lives up to the promise of being called " Taylor's Version ."

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is a film rendition of the colossal worldwide event that sees the legendary pop star hit the stage in a specially curated film event. Performing the hits of her over seventeen-year career in music, The Eras Tour highlights Taylor Swift and her team as they put on a show of a lifetime.

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Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Is Here, and It’s Much More Than Country

The superstar’s new LP is a 27-track tour of popular music with a Beatles cover, cameos by Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, and features from Miley Cyrus and Post Malone.

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By Ben Sisario

Beyoncé has gone country, sure … but it turns out that’s only the half of it.

For months, the superstar, who made her name in R&B and pop, has been telegraphing her version of country music and style. There was the “disco” cowboy hat at her Renaissance World Tour last year, and her “ western ” look at the Grammys in February, complete with a white Stetson and black studded jacket. Then, on the night of the Super Bowl, she released two new songs, and sent one of them, “Texas Hold ’Em” — with plucked banjos and lines about Texas and hoedowns — to country radio stations, sparking an industrywide debate about the defensive moat that has long surrounded Nashville’s musical institutions.

At midnight on Friday, Beyoncé finally released her new album, “Cowboy Carter,” and the country bona fides were certainly there. Dolly Parton provides a cameo introduction to Beyoncé’s version of “Jolene,” Parton’s 1972 classic about a woman confronting a romantic rival. Willie Nelson pops in twice as a grizzled D.J., who says he “turns you on to some real good [expletive],” including snippets of Chuck Berry, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the blues singer Son House.

Yet “Cowboy Carter” is far broader than simply a country album. Beyoncé does a version of the Beatles’ “Blackbird” and, on the track “Ya Ya,” draws from Nancy Sinatra and the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.” “Desert Eagle” is glistening funk, and the upbeat “Bodyguard” would not be out of place on a modern rock radio station. The album’s range suggests a broad essay on contemporary pop music, and on the nature of genre itself.

That theory is made clear on the partly spoken track “Spaghettii,” featuring the pioneering but long absent Black country singer Linda Martell , who in 1970 released an album called “Color Me Country.”

“Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes, they are,” Martell, 82, says. “In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand. But in practice, well, some may feel confined.”

Of course, Beyoncé herself indicated this a week ago when she posted a note on Instagram saying: “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”

Still, the theme of simultaneously celebrating and transforming country music extends to the album’s cover art, featuring Beyoncé seated sideways on a white horse, dressed in red-white-and-blue rodeo gear and hoisting an American flag.

Guests on the album include Miley Cyrus on the song “II Most Wanted,” and Post Malone on “Levii’s Jeans.” (The extra I’s underscore that “Cowboy Carter” is officially “Act II” of what Beyoncé has said will be a three-album cycle, which began with “Renaissance” in 2022. That motif repeats throughout the album’s 27-song track list. The Beatles cover — where she is joined by a quartet of young Black female country singers — Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts and Tiera Kennedy — is rendered as “Blackbiird.”) Midway through the track “Daughter,” Beyoncé even flexes some opera skills, singing a bit of “Caro Mio Ben,” a popular 18th-century Italian aria. ( More on that here .)

In a statement, Beyoncé described the sonic texture of the album, differentiating it from the synthesized process behind most contemporary pop albums (including her own).

“With artificial intelligence and digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones,” she said. “I didn’t want some layers of instruments like strings, especially guitars, and organs perfectly in tune. I kept some songs raw and leaned into folk.”

As with “Renaissance,” the audio for “Cowboy Carter” was leaked online shortly before its planned release, with some fans urging others not to listen early.

Back when Beyoncé released her self-titled “visual album” without warning in 2013, establishing the “surprise drop” as an industry trope, it was partly meant to protect the album from leaks, which had become a threat to first-week sales numbers. For these last two albums, Beyoncé has embraced a more conventional marketing plan, announcing her album weeks ahead of time and preparing deluxe physical editions. (There are many for “Cowboy Carter,” including LPs in, yes, red, white and blue vinyl.)

In the end, the leaks meant little to “Renaissance,” which went straight to No. 1 . And, regardless of the new album’s fate at country radio — where “Texas Hold ’Em” has so far made it only as high as No. 33 — the commercial potential for “Cowboy Carter” seems vast, given Beyoncé’s recent success.

Last year, she won her 32nd Grammy Award , more than any artist in history. Her Renaissance tour sold $580 million in tickets, second only to Taylor Swift. A related concert film, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” offered a rare look behind the scenes of her creative process and was a hit in cinemas.

Last week, as the release of “Cowboy Carter” neared, Beyoncé wrote on Instagram that the album was “over five years in the making,” and that “it was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed … and it was very clear that I wasn’t.” Fans zeroed in on her appearance at the Country Music Association Awards in 2016, where she performed her song “Daddy Lessons” with the Chicks, and drew backlash online .

“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” Beyoncé said. The new album, she added, “is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of an earlier Beyoncé song. It is “Daddy Lessons,” not “Daddy Issues.”

How we handle corrections

Ben Sisario covers the music industry. He has been writing for The Times since 1998. More about Ben Sisario

Even Taylor Swift’s Backup Dancers Made An Absolute Fortune From The Eras Tour

Taylor Swift's Eras tour made so much money that her backup dancers took home an incredible and awe-inspiring payday.

• Taylor Swift's Eras tour backup dancers earned big bonuses.
• Dancers on the Eras tour may have earned more money than on other tours.
• Working as a backup dancer on Taylor Swift's tour is highly demanding.

There's a lot of pop music out there... but there's only one artist as famous, successful, creative, and beloved as Taylor Swift . The singer can say no to performing during the Super Bowl Halftime Show and it doesn't even matter because her Eras tour earned so much money . Swift sang her most popular songs and at every concert stop, she wore fabulous costumes and connected with the audience.

Taylor Swift's Eras tour also featured incredibly talented backup dancers, and they were one of the most important parts of each performance. Since the singer has a billion-dollar net worth , she can definitely afford to pay her dancers a lot. In this article, we'll take a look at what Taylor Swift's Eras tour backup dancers were paid, along with what it's like to have this impressive career.

How Much Money Did Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Backup Dancers Make?

The exact salary that Taylor Swift's Eras tour backup dancers earn is unknown . However, fans can make some estimated guesses based on what backup dancers are paid for performances . According to City Dance Studios, Lady Gaga's backup dancers earned $1,000 when she performed at the Super Bowl, and Beyonce's backup dancers earned $2,500 for her 2021 Coachella concert.

While it's unclear if Taylor Swift's Eras tour backup dancers are paid a flat fee or per performance, they have definitely earned a lot of money. That's because of the $55 million bonuses that Swift paid her tour employees in the summer of 2023.

Taylor Swift And Toby Keith's Actual Relationship Was Downright Mysterious

According to People, that included caterers, sound technicians, riggers, and backup dancers. Swift also paid her 50 truck drivers $100,000, which added up to $5 million in bonuses.

Since Swift's Eras tour included many cities worldwide in 2023 and 2024, it's no wonder that she wanted to thank the tour employees for their incredible dedication and hard work. Her backup dancers left their regular lives when they agreed to go on tour, and while it must have been fun, there's no doubt that it was demanding and rigorous. They had to train, rehearse, and get back on stage night after night. It's sweet that Swift honored her dancers in this way.

Due to these bonuses, the backup dancers on the Eras tour might have earned more money than if they were part of her other tours. While of course dancers are artists who devote their lives to this creative form because they love it, it must have felt great to be given a bonus.

The singer has always tried to help those in her inner circle, and since she has so much money, it makes sense that she helps financially when she can. In 2015, according to Seventeen, Swift gave $50,000 to a GoFundMe page for Ayden , the nephew of her backup dancer Toshi. Ayden had cancer, which would be heartbreaking at any age but was particularly upsetting because he was so little. The singer wrote, "Baby Ayden, I'm lucky enough to perform with your uncle Toshi on tour. All of us are praying for you and your mama and sending so much love your way. Love, Taylor."

The Taylor Swift Vs Kanye West Feud: Explained

It's also possible to assume that Taylor Swift's Eras tour backup dancers are paid well because the singer truly appreciates the art form. In late 2023, when Swift was named the Time Person of The Year , she talked about dancing and sounded very humble. She said:

"Learning choreography is not my strong suit. I had three months of dance training, because I wanted to get it in my bones. I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought."

What Is It Like Being A Backup Dancer On Taylor Swift's Eras Tour?

Of course, fans can guess that being one of Taylor Swift's Eras tour backup dancers must be lots of fun... but also a lot of hard work and extremely long hours.

In an interview with British GQ, ballet teacher, author and lawyer Eloise Skinner talked about what it must be like to be one of Taylor Swift's dancers . Skinner mentioned that dancers are focused on eating properly so they can feel good and keep up their energy. They also want to make sure that they don't get injured, whether they spend time in saunas or ice baths when they have free time.

Skinner also noted that Taylor Swift's Eras dancers likely work out a lot so they can be ready. They mentioned pilates, swimming, strength training, running, mobility, and cardio.

How Travis Kelce Handles The Pressures That Come With Dating Taylor Swift

Jan Ravnik is the Taylor Swift backup dancer who has gotten the most attention. According to Uproxx.com, people think that he looks like Oscar Isaac. As Bustle reported, fans couldn't stop talking about this, and they also noticed how talented he is.

Ravnik is thrilled to be part of the Eras tour and wrote on Instagram:

"I’m beyond grateful to be part of [the] Eras Tour. Still can’t put into words how I feel after yesterdays opening night! I never thought that small town boy from Slovenia could come so far, but here we are.”

Many fans have praised Taylor Swift's Eras tour dancers for their talent. Redditor @Comprehensive_Air499 wrote, "Can we all agree that Taylor's dancers CRUSH it every night?" Another fan wrote, "Those dancers have crazy stamina. So proud of all of them, plus back stage crew, for putting together an amazing experience for the Era’s Tour."

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Fans Think Taylor Swift Is on Beyoncé’s New Album ‘Cowboy Carter’ — But Is She Really?

Some listeners are convinced the pop star sings background vocals on the track "Bodyguard."

By Hannah Dailey

Hannah Dailey

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In the lead-up to Beyoncé ‘s new album Cowboy Carter , rumors swirled that a certain country -turned- pop star may be a featured collaborator on the project. When it finally dropped at midnight Friday (March 29), however, Taylor Swift ‘s name was nowhere in sight on the credits.

Breaking Down Every Featured Artist on Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’: Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus…

But wait. Who’s that singing in the background on track eight?

“THAT IS 100% TAYLOR SWIFT ON BODYGUARD BY BEYONCÉ NOW GIVE ME A FULL COLLAB,” one Swiftie tweeted shortly after Cowboy Carter dropped.

“wait i can really hear taylor singing the ahhs in bodyguard…,” wrote another person, while a third fan added, “IS TAYLOR DOING THE BACKGROUND VOCALS FOR BODYGUARD OR NOT SOMEONE TELL ME.”

But no, Swift’s voice is not included in “Bodyguard.”

That may be a disappointing fact for fans of the two women, who have been in each other’s corners since Bey supported Swift at the 2009 VMAs after Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) interrupted the “Karma” musician during her best female video acceptance speech. Last year, the Ivy Park founder attended the premiere of Swift’s Eras Tour concert film premiere, soon after which the Pennsylvania-born pop star showed up to the Houston native’s Renaissance movie debut in London.

“I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without @beyonce‘s influence,” Swift wrote of Bey on Instagram after the Eras event. “The way she’s taught me and every artist out here to break rules and defy industry norms. Her generosity of spirit. Her resilience and versatility. She’s been a guiding light throughout my career and the fact that she showed up tonight was like an actual fairytale. 😇🙏🥹”

See tweets from fans theorizing about Bey, Tay and “Bodyguard” below.

THAT IS 100% TAYLOR SWIFT ON BODYGUARD BY BEYONCÉ NOW GIVE ME A FULL COLLAB #COWBOYCARTER pic.twitter.com/PXyfCAGfCd — j a y s o n⸆⸉ミ★ | cowboy carter 3.29 (@kntyhero) March 29, 2024

wait i can really hear taylor singing the ahhs in bodyguard… pic.twitter.com/F41L0ayQrP — Brooklyn (@bklynb4by) March 29, 2024

IS TAYLOR DOING THE BACKGROUND VOCALS FOR BODYGUARD OR NOT SOMEONE TELL ME pic.twitter.com/ixvFb1scSI — agapé! (@agapethamar) March 29, 2024

That one ahhh on bodyguard REALLY sounds like Taylor swift LMAO like I thought y’all were being unserious at first — emily (@sorcererstevie) March 29, 2024

Me, Two seconds into Bodyguard: “Oh that’s Taylor Swift” — sarah 🩷 (@xoxosarah515) March 29, 2024

listening to beyonce's album and tell me i'm not crazy when i say i hear taylor swift on bodyguard — brooke ✨ (@brookedici) March 29, 2024

im a taylor swift on background vocals for bodyguard truther until proven otherwise — tanner (@casualtanner) March 29, 2024

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• Speidi's 16th Minute

Hot Topics With Page Six’s Evan Real and Danny Murphy

Evan and Danny, cohosts of ‘Virtual Reali-Tea,’ join to discuss Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour vs. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Speidi’s Kardashian connections, and much more

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Spencer and Heidi are back , and this time, they’re joined by Evan Real and Danny Murphy, cohosts of Page Six ’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast, to discuss all things reality television and pop culture. The quad discusses Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour vs. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour (14:52), Speidi’s Kardashian connections (36:30), what’s going on with Britney (48:25), and Kim Zolciak’s wigs (54:34).

Hosts: Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag Guests: Evan Real and Danny Murphy Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Amelia Wedemeyer, and Chelsea Stark-Jones Theme Song: Heidi Montag

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Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Is a Sprawling, Endlessly Entertaining Tour de Force: Album Review

By Chris Willman

Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

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It sounds pretty magnificent, if a short answer is required. But if it’s genre we all really want to get into, “Cowboy Carter” sounds kinda country, and kinda not — in a way that feels wholly country. Because what is modern country music if not a cornucopia that’s a long way past being defined by a single sound? “Act II” feels a lot like a 27-course meal, difficult to describe in whole, but endlessly easy to digest, serving by serving. There are moments throughout where she’s embracing the tropes and traditions of country as we’ve known it, and just as many where you’re thinking she decided to abandon the concept, until suddenly Willie Nelson or Dolly Parton pop up for one of their intermittent spoken cameos, or there’s a fleeting Patsy Cline interpolation, and suddenly she’s veered back into C&W mode again. No one will mistake this sprawling set for ever following a straight path, or having a remotely dull moment.

It’s almost as if Beyoncé was watching some of the evolutionary leaps and hiccups country has been experiencing as it redefines its boundaries — as the music always has — and said, “Hold my Armand de Brignac. I’ve got this.”  But it’s not just a matter of what Beyoncé can do for country music; it’s what her concept of country can do for her, in expanding her musical empire and even her already well-honed sense of self. It’s a lot.

As a whole, “Cowboy Carter” is a masterpiece of sophisticated vocal arranging, laid out on top of mostly fairly stark band tracks. It’s not as if she ever laid off that great trick of her trade, even in a dance-based album like “Renaissance.” But here her brilliance at rendering self-harmonies is pushed up to the forefront in a way that might not have been as easy to focus on for a listener since Destiny’s Child covered “Carol of the Bells” for a Christmas record. It’s bliss.

Apart from these mostly common elements, the tracks almost couldn’t be more different from one another. Who knew that her exploration of Black Country would seem so much like her White Album? Or like a countrified version of Side 2 of “Abbey Road,” once the second half of this album turns into a series of short, sometimes weirder songs that have more strength as part of a dizzying medley than they might as Spotify singles. In its own fashion, “Cowboy Carter” plays as well as a smartly sequenced album as “Renaissance” did, even though that felt like a DJ club set and the new one goes harder on eclectic songcraft.

Her decision to issue “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” as the two teaser tracks two months in advance of the album turns out to have been ideal for setting expectations for two very different sides of the record. “Texas” wasn’t shy about invoking country tropes, like line-dancing; it, along with some of the attendent pre-release imagery, made some suspicious souls wonder if this album would end up feeling like country cosplay. But then there was “Carriages,” a deeply personal ballad about her misspent youth as a budding starlet, sounding nothing like either old or new country, but married to the genre somehow just by the sound of its intricately plucked strings and storytelling.

There aren’t many moments that sell the lifestyle-branding side of country as hard as “Texas Hold ‘Em” does. (That song did its job; it’s still rising on the country airplay charts, upending some people’s initial expectations.) But of course she’s tying herself to mainstream country’s coolest elders, bringing in Willie Nelson, who does a couple of faux-DJ skits, and Dolly Parton, who brings a chuckle to a spoken introduction to Bey’s “Jolene” cover by pointing out the correlation between that classic’s auburn-haired temptress and the fabled Becky-with-the-good-hair. The Dolly homage is unquestionably the most pure country number on the album, but it’s not a completely straight take, as Beyoncé has rewritten almost all of the lyrics (and added a bridge) to make the song a fiercely protective warning instead of an endangered housewife’s plea. Taking out all the vulnerability lessens the tune a little, but it’s still a kick to hear “Jolene” with a serious infusion of “Lemonade.”

Did we mention that this murder fantasy — which starts off with a classical-sounding guitar that sounds almost fit for a Marty Robbins song — eventually winds up with Beyoncé flawlessly singing an aria from the 1700s, “Caro Mio Ben,” in Italian? It’s that kind of unpredictable album, although this at least counts as probably the strangest turn on it. Unless you count “Oh Louisiana,” a much goofier number that has Beyoncé covering a Chuck Berry oldie in a sped-up voice for a mere 52 seconds.

In evangelizing for this album, it’s hard to know whether to emphasize its weirder choices or its more conventional pleasures. There are more than enough of both of them to give “Cowboy Carter” a real sense of dynamics. But when it comes to the most straightforward material, the average listener may gravitate immediately to Beyoncé’s crowd-pleasing duet with Miley Cyrus , “II Most Wanted,” which has producer Ryan Tedder building a breezy buddyship anthem over an interpolation of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” “I’ll be your shotgun rider ’til the day I die / Smoke out the window flyin’ down the 405,” they sing, putting the western back in country & Western. “II Most Wanted” is not the most interesting song here, but Bey harmonizes with Cyrus just as effectively as she does with herself. It’d be no surprise if their duet finds its way onto and sticks around the adult contemporary chart for about 18 months.

Sexy-time is a big thing on this album, too. Another superstar duet, “Levii’s Jeans,” has Post Malone in the role of Jay-Z. (Or at least we can surmise from other lyrics on the album that Beyoncé considers herself to have a very healthy marital relationship, physically and otherwise.) “Baby, let me rattle that snake with my venom / Denim on denim on denim on denim,” she sings, although it’s actually more lilting and gentle in tone than any saucy lyric excerpt is going to make it sound.

There are theories that “Act III” in her promised musical triptych will be a rock ‘n’ roll album. It could be wishful thinking; maybe she is saving an all-arias album for last in the trilogy. But if she is planning to rock, she gets a slight head start on it here with a couple of numbers here. “Bodyguard” is a strummed soft-rock number with a straight-up backbeat, sounding almost like a demo, in its sweet minimalism.

Later, she seriously ramps up the energy with “Ya Ya,” which brings out her Tina Turner side, and/or sounds like a “TAMI Show” outtake. “Ya Ya” risks extending itself an interpolation too far, as some iconic bass riffing from “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” is succeeded by Bey twice throwing in the hook from that famous country classic, “Good Vibrations.” On paper, “Ya Ya” is overstuffed with references, but that doesn’t really matter when you can feel the wind coming off the fringe of her miniskirt.

It takes until the 12 th song on the album — at which point, remember, we’re not halfway through — till we get the first and only real hip-hop song on the album, “Spaghetti,” which has Beyoncé rapping, ever so briefly. But it does have, yes, the barest trace of a spaghetti Western feel, which is just enough to technically tie it back to the overriding concept. It also has an introducion from Linda Martell, the first Black female star in country music (circa 1970), who gives a short homily: “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? … In theory, they have a simple definition, but in practice, well, some may feel confined.”

And then, after a few more essentially acoustic-based songs that pick up the tempo, there’s the final stretch of the album, where things finally get a lot looser and loopier. It may be at this late point in the album when Beyoncé loses some people. After the bonkers “Oh Louisiana” and the 1:13 paean to oral sex that is “Desert Eagle,” a few listeners might be going: What the hell was that we just heard? Suddenly, after that, it begins turning into a club album, with “II Hands to Heaven,” which has an electronic pulse we haven’t heard much of, and “Tyrant,” which flirts with trap, even though Bey is keeping the rodeo underpinnings alive with a “Giddy-up, giddy-up.”

Hearing the album finally turn into something that feels a bit closer to 2022’s “Renaissance” toward the very end could be seen as a reward for some of her faithful fans who are more into dance music for sticking through the Texas two-stepping. But in country terms, it also feels a bit like going to California’s Stagecoach Festival, where the headliner is now always followed at the end of the final night by a late-night DJ set from Diplo, since the line between line-dancing and EDM culture is being further erased these days.

Who cares if any or all of it is country or not, you might ask? Well, lots of people do — especially fellow Black artists who have a stake in how this album is received and how it might affect their futures. Martell, 82, is on board for a couple of spoken-word interludes to serve as a reminder Black country’s largely swept-under-the-rug past. But Beyoncé has brought on board here several young singers who are part of the music’s past and future, including Willie Jones, on “Just for Fun,” and Shaboozey, on “Spaghetti” and again on “Sweet Honey Buckin’,” where their interplay is as randy as the title suggests.

“You were only waiting for this moment to arrive” — that’s a key line for an album that lives up to its event status as an inherent piece of agitprop and socially significant performance art, reflecting and affecting the history of Black music and country. It obviously has been compared to Ray Charles’ landmark 1962 “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music,” but this feels different than someone coming in and adopting the existing country songbook for their own purposes, vital as that was. Beyoncé expanding this historic catalog with her own crucial additions to it is a never-to-be-forgotten signpost, however much it does or doesn’t immediately affect the fortunes of those still trying to get a basic foothold in the genre.

And she’s not pulling this off either by unduly ingratiating herself into a scene with country customs or ignoring those hallmarks entirely. With this endlessly entertaining project, she gets to be a warrior of female and Black pride and a sweetheart of the radio. Because being Beyoncé means never having to pretend to be just one thing.

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Is Taylor Swift on a Beyonce Cowboy Carter track? Fans think it's her on Bodyguard

H ere's something we do know: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are friends, to the point where Swift flew to the London premiere of the Renaissance tour film .

Here's something we don't know: Did Swift sing on a track on her friend's new album,  Cowboy Carter ?

The song,  Bodyguard , has some background vocals on it that definitely sound ... Swift-y. And it's one of the more pop-friendly tracks on the album. Plus, there was someone who edited a page on Genius to add Swift's name, but we have no official confirmation.

That hasn't stopped people from tweeting about it on X (formerly Twitter):

https://twitter.com/nothnghppens/status/1773567110913953826?s=46&t=evqIjP-tZlUHN0ZMNPzKlg

https://twitter.com/taylorsversion/status/1773701419557646709?s=46&t=evqIjP-tZlUHN0ZMNPzKlg

https://twitter.com/shimmeringtay13/status/1773670768443871335

https://twitter.com/kntyhero/status/1773652720143978673

https://twitter.com/TSisBEYtryin134/status/1773712506458198315

We'll see if this is true or not!

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Is Taylor Swift on a Beyonce Cowboy Carter track? Fans think it's her on Bodyguard

Taylor Swift joins Oprah, Rihanna on Forbes billionaires list. See who else made the list

It's been a long time coming, but... Taylor Swift has now joined Forbes' Worlds' Billionaire List.

Here's what we know.

Is Taylor Swift a billionaire?

Yes . The pop superstar, who  reached billionaire status in October , landed on Forbes'  World’s Billionaires list , the business magazine shared Tuesday. Among other celeb billionaires who made the cut — including  Rihanna ,  Kim Kardashian ,  Oprah Winfrey  and  "Star Wars"  creator George Lucas — Swift was ranked at No. 14 with a net worth of $1.1 billion.

More on Taylor Swift: Ka-ching! Taylor Swift lands on Forbes' World's Billionaires list with $1.1B net worth

Lucas tops the celebrity billionaire list, with a net worth of $5.5 billion — five times that of Swift.

However, the "Is It Over Now?" singer still managed to make history as the first person to reach billionaire status "based solely on songwriting and performing," according to Forbes .

Swift had a lucrative 2023, thanks in large part to her record-breaking  Eras Tour , which became the first tour in history to earn more than $1 billion. The global trek,  which kicked off in March 2023 , took in an estimated ticket gross of $1.04 billion last year from 4.35 million tickets sold, according to  music industry trade publication Pollstar .

People are also reading: Taylor Swift's new album, 'Error 321' and historic Grammy win: Everything you need to know

Swift's U.S. concerts added an estimated $4.3 billion to the country’s gross domestic product in 2023,  Bloomberg reported in October .

A concert film of the tour,  "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,"  opened at the box office in October with earnings of $92.8 million. Within days, it became the highest-grossing concert film ever in North America, not accounting for inflation.

Also read: Texas meteorologist sneaks Taylor Swift lyrics into forecasts and TikTok is 'ready for it'

Top 10 billionaires from the US

Here are the top U.S. celebrity billionaires who made Forbes' list :

Top 10 billionaires from Texas in 2023

Here are the top Texas billionaires, according to last year's Forbes 400 list .

Is Beyoncé a billionaire?

Not yet . As of December 2023, Forbes estimates Beyoncé's net worth to be around $800 million.

Of course, this was calculated before "Queen Bey" dropped her new country album "Cowboy Carter."

People are also reading: Beyoncé’s new 'Cowboy Carter' album is out. Here's what we know, how to stream it.