Beyoncé Knowles-Carter endorsed Vice President Harris in an impassioned speech at a rally in Houston late Friday evening.
“We are all part of something that is much bigger. We must vote. We need you,” Beyoncé said, just moments before she introduced Harris. “It’s time to sing a new song — a song that began 248 years ago. The old notes of downfall, discord, despair, no longer resonate. Generations of loved ones before us are whispering a prophecy, a quest, a calling, an anthem.”
“Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song?” Beyoncé said. “Because I am.”
The 32-time Grammy award winner is one of the most prominent celebrities to throw their support behind Harris, and one of the most popular Black celebrities to join the vice president on the campaign trail.
But Beyoncé wasn’t the only celebrity to heap praise on Harris Friday night.
Beyoncé took the stage after her mother, Tina Knowles, introduced her and one of her best friends and fellow singer Kelly Rowland.
Rowland spoke first, issuing a fiery speech and letting the crowd know she cast her early ballot for Harris just two days ago.
“Houston, we are grabbing back the pen and forging a new path with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Rowland said. “We are grabbing back the pen to write a new American story of community, equality, strength, kindness and hope.”
“Houston, you have already had a hand in creating Destiny,” Rowland added, referring to Destiny’s Child, the band she and Beyoncé were part of throughout the 90s and early 2000s. “So do what you do and do the same again.”
Her words elicited cheers from the audience, but the noise became deafening as Beyoncé took over the mic.
“We are at the precipice of an incredible shift, the brink of history,” Beyoncé said.
She added that she wasn’t there as a celebrity or as a politician — but as a mother who wants to ensure her children have the same freedoms she and her own mother had.
“I’m here as a mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in; a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies; a world where we are not divided,” Beyoncé said.
“We need you. Your voice has power and magnitude. Your vote is one of the most valuable tools and we need you. Your freedom is your God-given right – your human right,” she added. “We all have a role to play to make this a reality.”
Beyoncé’s appearance followed an August rumor that the “Texas Hold Em” singer would make an appearance at the Democratic National Convention, though that never actually happened.
But Beyoncé’s support for Harris isn’t all that surprising.
The Houston native had already given Harris permission to use “Freedom” as her campaign song, and threatened a cease and desist order to Trump after his team posted a video using the song.
In 2020, Beyoncé endorsed President Biden. In 2016, Beyoncé and her husband, award-winning rapper Jay-Z, headlined a concert for Hillary Clinton.
She was also an ardent supporter of former President Obama during both his campaigns, even singing at his Inaugural Ball in 2009 and at his inauguration in 2013.
