Beyoncé Says She Prefers to ‘Disappear’ Between Albums Because Fame Can Feel ‘Like Prison’

Beyoncé has a reputation for staying aloof and enigmatic in spite of being one of the most famous women on the planet, with her public appearances remaining few and far between even when she’s in the midst of an album cycle. And in a new GQ cover story published Tuesday (Sept. 10), the multi-hyphenate explains why. 

In the interview conducted over email, Bey was candid about the fact that creating art and performing are what she loves to do — but everything else that comes with superstardom? Not so much. “I create at my own pace, on things that I hope will touch other people,” she told the publication. “I only work on what liberates me.”  

“It is fame that can at times feel like prison,” Bey continued. “So, when you don’t see me on red carpets, and when I disappear until I have art to share, that’s why.” 

Because of her love of music, the 32-time Grammy winner hasn’t shied away from experimenting with new genres — for example, her Billboard 200-topping country LP Cowboy Carter — and making albums based on what she loves, not on what’s popular. For instance, in 2011, when she could’ve played things safe by releasing a dance-pop album to keep up with the time’s radio-friendly trends, she instead turned in 4. 

“I wouldn’t say that I was anti-pop,” she recalled of the 13-year-old project. “I respected pop. But it was a time where 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. It was not where I was going with my music career at that time. I was yearning for something deeper with more musicality.”  

The cover story comes amid fan outrage that Cowboy Carter was snubbed 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 award show sparked backlash from critics who felt she didn’t belong in the space; almost a decade later, the vocalist wrote on social media that Cowboy Carter was “born out of an experience” she’d had years prior where she “did not feel welcomed.” 

But as Bey told GQ, she’d still be singing even if she had no stage to perform on. “Singing is not work for me,” she said. “There’s magic in the way it feels on my throat, a resonance that vibrates through me. When I am at my lowest, when I’ve been sad or in a heavy fog, sick or anxious with sleepless nights, I sing. And, often, I sing alone.” 

“It steadies my heartbeat, it’s my best hit of dopamine,” she added. “It’s one of the deepest joys of my life, a necessity as vital as breath.” 

See Bey’s cover of GQ below:

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