halftime show

“II Most Wanted” — a heartstring-tugging duet with Miley Cyrus — is one of three Hot 100 top 10 hits from Cowboy Carter. Though Queen Bey couldn’t fit the track in her medley, she still dedicated a cheeky easter egg to the Grammy-nominated song.

About a minute into her set, as Bey sings “16 Carriages” on horseback, there’s a skeleton cowboy in the shotgun seat of the slab parked to her right. It’s a nod to the lyric, “I’ll be your shotgun rider/ Till the day I die,” taken from the chorus of “II Most Wanted.”

Always one to put on as elaborate a show as possible, the first two songs of Beyoncé Bowl were pre-recorded outside of the stadium, while the rest of the show was performed live on the field.

To transition from “Blackbiird” (the final song of the pre-recorded section) to “Ya Ya” (the first song of the live section), Beyoncé’s electric band incorporated a snippet of the drums from “Freedom,” a Grammy-nominated track from her 2016 Lemonade album. You can hear it at 3:09 on the official YouTube upload.

In 2024, “Freedom” served as Vice President Kamala Harris’ official campaign song. The rousing, Kendrick Lamar-assisted anthem blared in Chicago’s United Arena when she accepted the Democratic party’s presidential nomination at the DNC. Interestingly, “Freedom” appears on the same album as “Daddy Lessons,” Beyoncé’s first foray into country music and the song she performed at her now infamous appearance at the 2016 CMA Awards.

Football halftime shows call for marching bands, and that’s right up Beyoncé’s alley. In 2018, she ruled the Coachella Valley with an instantly legendary headlining performance that paid tribute to HBCU band, majorette and Black Greek culture. Affectionately nicknamed “Beychella,” the stunning set featured a massive marching band and rows of bleachers, both of which returned for the “My House”-led section of Beyoncé Bowl.

Queen Bey dropped “My House” in late 2023 to commemorate the release of her box office-topping Renaissance documentary-concert film, and the house-rap track heavily incorporates marching band drums and brass, making it the perfect fit for this part of Beyoncé Bowl. What’s more? The bleacher setup also worked as a built-in platform to spotlight Blue Ivy, who danced throughout the show.

In May 2024, dancer and choreographer Ahsia Janaè uploaded a short combo to the “Buckiin’” section of Cowboy Carter’s “Sweet ★ Honey ★ Buckiin’.”

After bringing out Shaboozey to perform his verse from the song’s “Sweet” section, Beyoncé yelled, “She gone!” and dove straight into a Parris Goebel-helmed dance break inspired by Janaè’s choreography. For her part, Janaè declared Bey the ultimate winner of the “Buckiin’” challenge.

Before she levitated in the air for the big finale, Beyoncé performed her historic hit single “Texas Hold ‘Em” on an equally history-steeped stage.

The all-white carriages with flowers draped around the wheels were a reference to the early Juneteenth parades held in Emancipation Park in Houston’s Third Ward. A proud H-Town girl, Bey has repped Third Ward her entire career — from 2013’s “No Angel” music video to her set-repping “Ya Ya” intro (“One, two, tre, four!”) at Beyoncé Bowl.

Beyoncé Bowl may have showcased plenty of Cowboy Carter collaborators, but the sprawling performance also highlighted a few guests outside of the album’s universe.

The Texans Cheerleaders represented the home team throughout the show, while nearly 200 members of Texas Southern University’s Ocean of Soul Marching Band helped reimagine the song’s arrangements.

For “Jolene,” Beyoncé performed the song as she sat in a car that led a parade that included Mexican cowgirl Melanie Rivera, legendary bull-riding champ Myrtis Rightman, Jr. (also known as the “Jackie Robinson of Rodeo), Arkansas’ first Black rodeo queen Ja’Dayia Kursh, Miss Rodeo Texas 2015 Nikki Woodward and Houston Texans owner Cal McNair and his wife Hannah McNair.