Flashback Friday: Beyoncé - I’m Coming Out | Beyoncé been gay. Beyoncé and Diana Ross been fated.

A GIF of Beyoncé strutting across the stage as she performs a cover of Diana Ross' classic “I’m Coming Out” at a special gig in Tokyo.

With Diana Ross having crashed the Renaissance World Tour to wish Beyoncé a Happy Birthday, we’ve gotta throwback to a performance that Beyoncé did of the Diana Ross classic “I’m Coming Out” back in 2006.

When Chloe told that crowd ‘SING IT FUCKIN’ LOUDER’, this was her inspiration. Although this Beyoncé show was in Tokyo, and Japanese crowds are known for being pretty quiet.

Beyoncé having such a command of the stage has been a given for a while now, to such a point that it’s just a life fact. Like, the sky is blue, the grass is green and Florida is hell. But it’s still something to look back on older performances and see not only the evolution of Beyoncé as a performer, but just how much she had it together so early on in her career. Her energy. Her stage presence. The way she commands the crowd. We’re so used to seeing Beyoncé as part of these big, elaborate stage productions, that we forget that she never always had that and she’s never needed it, because Beyoncé IS the production.

As for the Diana Ross of it all, it’s crazy how full circle it’s all come for Beyoncé.

Beyoncé’s career has very clear parallels to Diana Ross’ - being in a hugely successful group which she was pivotal to the success of, then becoming a hugely successful solo star. Then playing Deena in the Dreamgirls movie, a story very clearly based on that of Diana Ross and The Supremes. And then for Diana Ross to crash Beyoncé’s concert during the “Love Hangover” intermission, a song of which was always a part of the disco horse tour. A tour in support of an album which pulls influence from disco, and includes a song featuring the talents of the legendary Nile Rodgers, who famously worked on the Diana album back in 1980, which featured the song “I’m Coming Out”.

Diana Ross being brought back into the fold of Beyoncé is also a nice reminder that the disco horse album is also an ode to the likes of Diana Ross, because she is so synonymous with Black queer culture and kinda responsible for parts of it. Diana Ross has inspired drag looks, runway looks, was somebody many of the trans girls wanted to aspire to look like and be. Her song “I’m Coming Out” was written with the queer community in mind, and it was received in earnest. So for Renaissance to be what it is and for Diana Ross to have appeared on Beyoncé’s tour to honour her, it’s like a torch passing. There would be no Beyoncé without Diana Ross.

For Beyoncé and Diana Ross to cross paths and have such a mutual admiration for each other the way they do - their union was truly written in the stars.


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