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Superstar Beyoncé delivered a rare political speech on Friday as she introduced Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in the singer’s hometown of Houston, issuing a call to action to get out and vote.

“It’s time for America to sing a new song. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song?” Beyoncé said. “Let’s do this. Ladies and gentlemen, give a big, loud Texas welcome to the next president of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Harris entered the stage to Beyoncé’s 2016 song — and Harris’ campaign anthem and slogan — “Freedom.”  

Though Beyoncé has dipped into politics, she rarely speaks directly on behalf of candidates or issues. The speech Friday night was a clear and urgent departure and a rousing attempt to mobilize voters 10 days before the election. In a surprising move, she did not perform.

Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mother, businesswoman and fashion designer, also spoke at the rally, saying that Houston is where her daughters “found their voices.”  

“We cannot accept a country where our daughters … will not have a basic freedom that I have lived with for most of my life,” Knowles said, before introducing Beyoncé and fellow Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland, who told crowd members: “Houston, you already had a hand in creating destiny.”

Over 1 million people signed up to attend Friday’s rally at Shell Energy Stadium, which has a capacity of just over 22,000.

But it wasn’t Beyoncé’s star power that brought Harris to Texas. The Houston rally was meant to call attention to the impact that former President Donald Trump’s actions on abortion have had on reproductive freedom nationwide. Also joining the rally were Texans who have been impacted by what the Harris campaign has dubbed “Trump abortion bans” — state laws barring abortion access, made possible when the conservative-majority Supreme Court ended federal abortion rights by overturning Roe v. Wade. 

According to a senior Harris campaign official, Texas was chosen for a rally specifically focused on reproductive rights because of the way its early anti-abortion laws have impacted people in the state. Some of the speakers included Ondrea Cummings, the San Antonio woman who shared her story in full for the first time, telling the crowd that she developed sepsis after she could not receive treatment because of Texas’ abortion ban; Amanda and Josh Zurawski, the Texas couple who were the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging Texas’ abortion bans; Shanette Williams, the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman, the Georgia woman who died after being unable to receive timely medical care because of the state’s abortion ban; and Yesenia Gamez, a military wife who voiced her concerns about the impact of abortion bans on IVF in a Harris campaign ad.

The Harris campaign also released a new ad in advance of the Houston rally titled, “He Did It,” featuring footage of Trump bragging about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade. The ad is now airing in all battleground states. 

This isn’t Beyoncé’s first foray into politics. In 2009, then-President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama danced to Beyoncé’s live rendition of Etta James’ “At Last” at an inaugural ball. In 2016, Beyoncé and her husband, rapper Jay-Z, headlined a concert in support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Days before the November 2020 election, Beyoncé posted an image of herself on social media encouraging fans to vote. In it, she wore a mask supporting the Joe Biden-Harris ticket.
Harris is a fan of Beyoncé and the singer knows it. In 2023, Beyoncé gifted concert tickets to the vice president. Harris posted about it on social media, including a photo of herself with Emhoff thanking the singer for the date night.

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