Christmas Day is a big day in the NFL and NBA — but add some Beyonce in and things go up quite a bit. One of the featured games of the day was on the Netflix broadcast of the NFL, which featured the Baltimore Ravens vs the Houston Texans, with Beyonce as the halftime headliner. While Lamar Jackson, Derick Henry, and the Ravens made mincemeat of the Texans in short order, the game owned the eyes for the halftime show featuring megastar Beyonce. While the game was for all practical purposes over after two periods the real show was happening at halftime, and an HBCU band found themselves in the middle of the mix.
Formerly Beyonce Knowles, now Beyonce Carter, she is from Houston and offered her services on Christmas Day for the hometown Texans. She headlined the Super Bowl halftime in 2013 and performed with Coldplay and Bruno Mars in 2016, so she is no stranger to the big stage at NFL games.
For this show, she reached out to local HBCU Texas Southern University for the services of their marching band “The Ocean of Soul.”
Carter was joined in the performance by Post Malone and Shaboozey. She also opened with black female country singers Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, and Tiera Kennedy. While Carter’s country album “Texas Hold Em” broke airplay records, it was overlooked completely by the CMA’s and Carter struggled to get notoriety for her work. Billboard, however, recognized Beyonce’s work for the airplay and streams it garnered.
Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé’s eldest daughter, joined in as a featured dancer. The younger Carter was a fan favorite on Beyonce’s last tour.
Dressed in all white, the “Ocen of Soul” was sharp with their moves and fit nicely into the show. Netflix, who broadcast the game, did not immediately report numbers, but said that millions tuned in beginning with the pregame show.
The show was touted as a very solid performance. Some have even said it has put pressure on this year’s Super Bowl performer Kendrick Lamar to bring a top notch performance.
