''Homecoming: The Live Album'' is the fifth

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by American singer and songwriter

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

, recorded from her two headlining

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

performances in April 2018. It was released on April 17, 2019. The album accompanied a

concert film A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. Ea ...

documenting the performance, '' Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé'', which premiered the same day on the streaming platform

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. The album was also released on vinyl, on December 4, 2020.

Background and recording

On January 4, 2017,

was announced as a headlining act for the April 2017

Coachella festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorad ...

. However, on February 23, 2017, she postponed her performance until the following year, due to doctor's concerns regarding her

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

with twins (born in June 2017). Playing her rescheduled dates in 2018, Beyoncé became the first black woman ever to headline the festival. In its nearly twenty years of existence, the festival has only had two other women solo headliners,

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

(who replaced Beyoncé in 2017) and

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

(2002 and 2007). Even prior to Beyoncé's performance, the nickname "Beychella" emerged for the 2018 festival. For her April 14 and 21, 2018, performances, some 100 dancers as well as her sister

Solange Solange may refer to: People with the given name * Solange Knowles (born 1986), American R&B/soul singer * Solange of Bourges (d. 880), Christian saint * Solange (psychic) (1952–2021), Italian TV personality, psychic and commentator * Solange A ...

, her husband

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

, and her former

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

joined Beyoncé on stage. She played a 26-song set to 125,000 concert-goers in attendance as well as millions watching via the live-stream on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and subsequent playback. The set sampled

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

and

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

among others. The performance has been credited as paying a strong tribute to the

HBCU Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

experience. A full marching band played during much of the set, accompanied by majorette dancers. Writing for Mic.com, Natelegé Whaley stated that the band consisted of members from various HBCUs and played samples of songs that are often played at an HBCU such as " Swag Surf", "

Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

", and "

Back that Azz Up "Back That Azz Up", also known as "Back That Thang Up" for a radio edit, is a song recorded by American rapper Juvenile featuring fellow American rappers Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne. Produced by Fresh, it was released on June 11, 1999, as the ...

", along with samples of

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and go-go music. Journalists also noted that the set incorporated various aspects of black Greek life, such as a step show along with strolling by probates (pledges). Reviewers noted the influence of black feminism on Beyoncé's performance, including her sampling of Nigerian author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born Grace Ngozi Adichie; 15 September 1977) is a Nigerians, Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, poem, and children's books; she is also a book reviewer and literary critic. Her most famous works include ''Purple ...

's TED Talk on feminism and the aforementioned appearances on stage of former collaborators

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling gir ...

and

Michelle Williams Michelle Williams or Michele Williams may refer to: * Michelle Ann Williams (born circa 1965), American public health scholar * Michelle Williams (singer) (born 1979), American singer, previously a member of Destiny's Child * Michelle Williams (actr ...

of Destiny's Child as well as her sister Solange; writing in ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', Brittney Cooper read Beyoncé's decision to involve these black women in the landmark performance as a gesture of sisterhood.

Critical reception

''Homecoming: The Live Album'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it received a weighted average score of 95, based on 6 reviews. Writing for ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Sonaiya Kelley named ''Homecoming: The Live Album'' as "one of the greatest live albums ever", with Makeda Easter adding that the "album is a piece of black history". Bernadette Giacomazzo of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'' called the album an "artistically-sound triumph" as well as a "cultural touchstone and, quite possibly, the live album of a generation". Giacomazzo describes that what makes the album "so classic is that Beyoncé makes clear" that she is "Black Excellence, personified — and in her performance, she makes the audience believe that they, too, are Black Excellence personified". Writing for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Brittany Spanos described the album as "triumphant" and "awe-inspiring". She noticed that the live album successfully felt like a greatest hits collection (reimagined to fit the college homecoming theme and marching band) due to its lack of connection to any specific album. In a review for ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'', Danielle Jackson praised the album as a "stunning" preservation of Beyoncé's Coachella performance, commending its focus on historical black artists. She wrote that the performance showcased Beyoncé at her vocal and physical peak, while celebrating "complex, diasporic blackness". She also applauded the album's mixing and engineering, and concluded that the "wondrous, rapturous collage" could serve as one of Beyoncé's most important albums.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's reviewer Neil Z. Yeung had similar sentiments, concluding that "''Homecoming'' is a master class in technical prowess, crowd pleasing, and soulful substance. Channeling the spirit of African queen

Nefertiti Nefertiti () () was a queen of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the Great Royal Wife, great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for their radical overhaul of state religious poli ...

(whose image she adopted for this show), Beyoncé proved to be a ruler in her own right, lording over Coachella for two career-defining nights."

Accolades

Commercial performance

''Homecoming: The Live Album'' debuted at number seven on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 38,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

s (including 14,000 in album sales) from only two days of tracking activity. It is Beyoncé's eighth solo US top 10 album. The following week, it rose to number four, earning 57,000 album-equivalent units (including 8,000 album sales). After the album's release, the studio version of "

Before I Let Go "Before I Let Go" is a song performed by American R&B band Maze, issued as the second single from the band's fifth album and first live album '' Live in New Orleans''. Although ''Live in New Orleans'' is a live album, "Before I Let Go" appears ...

" peaked at number 17 on the ''Billboard''

R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

Chart as well as number 3 on the ''Billboard'' R&B Digital Song Sales Chart. In the beginning of May, "Before I Let Go" debuted at number 75 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart issue dated May 4, 2019. It peaked at number 65 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 issue dated May 11, 2019.

Legacy

''Homecoming: The Live Album'' has been said to have set a trend of musicians releasing albums with complementary film projects on Netflix.

Lonely Island The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio, formed by Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer in Berkeley, California, in 2001. They have written for and starred in the American TV program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). The thre ...

's ''

The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience ''The Lonely Island Presents: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience'' is a Netflix special by comedy rap group The Lonely Island. Billed as a "visual poem", the special is directed by Mike Diva and Akiva Schaffer and stars Andy Samberg as J ...

'',

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

's ''

Anima Anima may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Anima, in the Spira world in ''Final Fantasy'' games * Anima, in the ''Fire Emblem'' game series * Anima (comics), a DC Comics character Film * '' Anima – Symphonie pha ...

,''

Sturgill Simpson John Sturgill Simpson (born June 8, 1978) is an American country music singer-songwriter and actor. As of June 2024, he has released eight albums as a solo artist. Simpson's style has been met with critical favor and frequent comparisons to ou ...

's '' Sound & Fury'', and

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

's '' Entergalactic'' are all cited as examples of projects that have followed the precedent that ''Homecoming: The Live Album'' set. Sheldon Pearce for ''

'' wrote that ''Homecoming'' kickstarted the "ongoing uprising" where "black women have been demanding ownership of their outsized impact on culture";

Jamila Woods Jamila Abidemi Woods (born October 6, 1989) is a Chicago-based American singer, songwriter and poet. Woods is a graduate of St. Ignatius College Prep and Brown University, where she received a BA in Africana Studies and Theater & Performance Stu ...

' '' LEGACY! LEGACY!'' and

Rapsody Marlanna Evans (born January 21, 1983), better known by her stage name Rapsody, is an American rapper. After signing with music producer 9th Wonder's music label It's a Wonderful World Music Group, she released a series of mixtapes and collab ...

's ''

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

'', as well as exhibitions such as "Black Women: Power and Grace" and "Posing Modernity", are mentioned as later works that constitute the "formative syllabus" that started with ''Homecoming''.

Frankie Beverly Howard Stanley Beverly (December 6, 1946 – September 10, 2024), known as Frankie Beverly, was an American singer, songwriter, and producer known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band Maze. He formed Maze, originally called R ...

, who originally sang "

", praised Beyoncé's cover of the song in ''Homecoming: The Live Album'', saying "It's a blessing... She's done so much, this is one of the high points of my life." R&B legend

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American jazz and soul singer. She is known for her soulful ballads, particularly from the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career in the late 1970s with the funk ban ...

also commented on Beyoncé's cover, describing Beyoncé as "Queen keeping R&B alive". ''

'' reported that the famed New Orleans band

Rebirth Brass Band The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans brass band. The group was founded in 1983 by Phillip "Tuba Phil" Frazier, his brother Keith Frazier, Kermit Ruffins,Skelly, RichardAllMusic Profile Retrieved 2013-02-9 and classmates from Joseph S. Cla ...

"gained new admirers" after Beyoncé sampled their song "Do Whatcha Wanna" on the track "Welcome". Music director Derek Dixie called working on ''Homecoming: The Live Album'' a "blessing", adding that being nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

means that "I've kind of accomplished something for the home team and family." Dixie also said "It was just months and months of prep work, making it sound authentic. She has tons and tons of classic records that when putting the show together, you have to maintain the classic feel of the record but make it feel like you're in a stadium at homecoming." A 9-feet-tall statue of Beyoncé as seen on the ''Homecoming: The Live Album'' cover was unveiled at Mercedes-Benz Arena in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. The "GO FIGURE" data visualization series explored the words and phrases that Beyoncé repeated throughout ''Homecoming'' and their impact on the viewer, with Semmi W. writing that Beyoncé "plants seeds of positive self-talk rather than doubt. Whether I was catching the subway or cleaning my apartment, her edict between my ears this weekend was cause for royal jubilee. In under two hours, Queen Bey kept declaring that we are all enough. In 162 sentences she told us to love, hustle, and claim what's yours. She repeatedly affirmed my intrinsic worth as a black girl-turned-adult." Through the tribute to HBCU culture in ''Homecoming: The Live Album'' (such as on the track "So Much Damn Swag"), Beyoncé increased people's interest in HBCUs. Students cited ''Homecoming'' as the reason that they were considering attending HBCUs, and Google searches for "HBCU" reached an all-time high after ''Homecoming: The Live Album'' was released.

Track listing

*Credits adapted from Beyoncé's official website. *All songs are produced by Beyoncé and Derek Dixie, except "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing", "So Much Damn Swag (Interlude)", "Bug a Boo Roll Call (Interlude)", "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing (Blue's Version)", which credit no producers, and the bonus tracks, "Before I Let Go" and "I Been On", that were produced by

Tay Keith Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, known professionally as Tay Keith, is an American record producer. He is best known for co-producing Travis Scott's 2018 single "Sicko Mode", which peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, as well as Drake's " Nonsto ...

& Beyoncé and

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

& Beyoncé, respectively.

Personnel

Production

Knowles-Carter – live performance direction, executive production, music direction * Derek Dixie – music direction, music mixing engineering, post audio engineering * Teresa LaBarbera – audio production supervision * Mariel Gomerez – music coordination * Stuart White – music mixing engineering, post audio engineering * Daniel Pampuri – recording engineering * Lester Mendoza – music mixing engineering, recording engineering, post audio engineering * Eric Hoffman – post audio engineering * Daniel Pampun – assistant engineering * Scott Kramer – assistant engineering * Colin Leonard – mastering * Kevin "Kwiz" Ryan – live performance audio engineering, recording engineering

Instrumentation

Band * Simone Bozyermini * Janee Dixon * Chris Gray * Arnetta Johnson * Chris Johnson * Corbin Jones * Marie Katre * Ariel O'Neal * Peter Ortega * Lauren Robinson * Crystal Torres * Rie Tsuji * Lessie Vonner * Venzella Joy Williams * Vidie Williams The Bzzzz (drumline live) * Rasaq Adeyemi * Larry Allen * Mathew Ashraf * Jacques Bell * Alex Blake * Tallie Brinson * Issac Carter * Kadeem Chambers * Brandon Cunningham * Jalen Harvey * Rashaad Horne * Keir Garner * Dasmyn Grigsby * Michael Jones * Giovanni Luevano * Lomario Marchman * Maurice Mosley * Naderah Munajj * Joey Oakly * Sjoerd Onley * Ralph Nadar * Jason Price * Loubins Richard * Erin Robinson * Travord Rolle * Brian Snell * Nathaniel Spencer * Sean Torres * Wayne Westley Background Vocals * Tiffanie Cross * Jasmin Cruz * Steve Epting * Naarai Jacobs * Jamal Moore * Dwanna Orange * Kiandra Richardson * Tiffany Moníque Ryan (assistant vocal arranger, lead background vocalist/ choir director) * Jerome Wayne * Chimera Wilson * Cameron Wright * George Young Strings * Crystal Alforque * Nathalie Barret-Mas * Amber Camp * Jasmin Charles * Rhea Hosanny * Jessica Mcjunkins * Ezinma * Chala Yancy * Crystal Brooke

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Sources; * * * * * Recorded in April 2018 at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. Indio is approximately east of Los Angeles, east of Palm Springs, ...

, the album features the entirety of Beyoncé's performance at the festival, which has since been described as "historic" by a number of music critics and media outlets.* * * * * Two bonus studio tracks – a cover of

Maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

's song "

" and " I Been On" – follow the live recording, bringing the album's length to just short of two hours. {{Authority control 2019 live albums Albums produced by Beyoncé Beyoncé albums Columbia Records live albums Parkwood Entertainment albums