A look back at Beyoncé's most outlandish pregnancy moments
She shattered records with millions of likes and comments
Beyoncé is many things, but careless is not one of them. In many ways, the music superstar’s second pregnancy was a reflection of her longtime stage persona: surprising, over-the-top and, above all, perfectly choreographed.
As her fans await official confirmation about whether Queen Bey did in fact give birth to her twins, here’s a look back at the most outlandish moments from her heavily scrutinized pregnancy.
When she broke the Internet announcing she was pregnant ... with twins
On Feb. 1, Bey announced she and husband Jay Z were expecting again with a surprise Instagram post of her hands cupping her very obviously pregnant belly. She was dressed in her underwear, draped in a sage-green veil and surrounded by flowers. You know, the typical maternity shoot.
In a matter of minutes, the photo had garnered millions of likes and comments, eventually shattering Instagram records. It also spawned countless parodies.
When she performed at the Grammys as a “pregnant golden goddess”
Less than two weeks after her Instagram announcement, Queen Bey appeared onstage at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, swathed in layers of gold. Unlike her 2011 MTV Video Music Awards performance — which she used to confirm her first pregnancy, dramatically dropping the mic and rubbing her belly after a killer live rendition of Love on Top — this performance was a more abstract, gauzy tribute to motherhood.
For nine minutes, a very pregnant Beyoncé floated about the stage with a phalanx of women in shimmery white and gold dresses, a vivid spectacle.
“Do you remember being born?’ she asked, dressed as a golden goddess. ‘Are you thankful for the hips that cracked, the deep velvet of your mother, and her mother, and her mother?”
When people scoured her Instagram feed trying to sleuth out clues about the twins
Beyoncé’s Instagram feed has been a master class in how to remain fierce while pregnant, with the pop superstar posting pictures looking equally fabulous at everything from a red-carpet art gala to the dance floor.
However, her superfans have been busy sussing out less obvious details. In March, when Bey posted pictures of herself in a little black dress and a pair of thigh-high boots, the Beyhive zeroed in on her earrings, pointing out that they were same pair she wore in her music video for If I Were a Boy. Soon, the prevailing theory on social media was that she was, in fact, having twin boys.
A tenuous connection? Perhaps. But as Teen Vogue pointed out, Beyoncé has a history of dropping hints through her fashion choices.
When a former president of the United States gave away the twins’ gender. Or did he?
In honour of Jay Z’s induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, former president Barack Obama recorded a video, released last week. It was a moving, humorous look at their similar backgrounds and qualities.
“I like to think that Mr. Carter and I understand each other,” Obama said in the recording. “Nobody who met us as younger men would have expected us to be where we are today. We know what it’s like to not have a father around; we know what it’s like not to come from and to know people who didn’t get the same breaks we did, so we try to prop open those doors of opportunity so it’s a little easier for those who come up behind us to succeed, as well.”
But it was a single other line in the video that caught the attention of the Beyhive: “Jay and I are also fools for our daughters, although he’s going to have me beat once those two twins show up.”
Had the former president accidentally — or intentionally — revealed that Beyoncé would be having twin girls? There was only silence from Bey and Jay.