Oprah’s reaction to Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour is so, so relatable: ‘I couldn’t speak’
Oprah Winfrey starred in the original 1985 film adaptation of The Color Purple. (Kevin Mazur/Getty)
Even Oprah Winfrey gets starstruck, it seems, with the TV icon sharing how Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour left her speechless.
It’s a well-known fact that Beyoncé is the celebrity’s celebrity, with Lizzo, Adele and Zendaya all paid-up members of the Beyhive.
Now, we can add Oprah Winfrey and her best friend, CBS News presenter Gayle King, to that list.
The pair attended Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour concert in New Jersey’s MetLife stadium on Sunday (30 July).
The pair shared their thoughts in a video posted to Oprah Daily.
Oprah admitted “never in my life have I ever experienced anything like that”.
“I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t scream, I was in awe,” she said, “That is the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever seen. My body was vibrating the whole night. It was a transcendence to see all of that come together. The amount of creativity, the amount of energy, the amount of synergy, the amount of alignment – what that takes.
“She is at the helm of all of it, you can see in every costume, in every move. I bow to that, I bow.”
Gayle echoed Oprah’s excitement.
“It made me so proud because she is a mother, a wife,” the CBS presenter added.
“Tina Knowles [Beyoncé’s mother] said to me years ago that ‘my daughter is the hardest working person I know’ and to me that was on full display yesterday. My jaw is still on the ground. I was mindblown.”
Praising it as the “fullest expression of a human being”, Oprah revealed she also got the chance to say hello to Beyoncé before the concert, which was “pretty phenomenal”.
“I would have been a pool of tears if I had seen her afterwards. I wouldn’t have even known how to express what I was feeling,” Winfrey reflected.
Both Gayle and Oprah uploaded videos of themselves concert, passionately singing along to “Break My Soul”, dancing the night away, and generally living their best lives.
“I feel like the mark of an extraordinary artist is that you come out of that experience wanting to be better so I felt that too. I felt like I am gonna do better in my whole life,” Winfrey concluded.
Beyoncé released her acclaimed seventh studio album, Renaissance, in July 2022.
Rooted in dance music, it’s been described as a letter to the LGBTQ+ community, with a special dedication to Beyoncé’s Uncle Jonny, a gay man who died of an AIDS-related illness.
The accompanying tour kicked off in Europe this May and is currently making its way through North America.
More information on how to purchase tickets for the Renaissance World Tour can be found here.
