The buzz behind the Beyoncé DNC rumor: How it all started

While Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are riding high off the back of the Democratic National Convention’s final night, one thing remained shrouded in mystery: where was Beyoncé?

Stars flooded to Chicago, Illinois, from Monday for the four-day long convention, with performances from the likes of Stevie Wonder and John Legend.

Over the course of the week, speculation was mounting that Queen Bey would take to the stage and endorse Harris with a performance on the closing night.

But when the vice president took to the stage, she was accompanied only by Beyoncé’s hit song Freedom blaring through the United Center’s PA system.

Droves of Beyoncé-supporting delegates and other attendees were somewhat disheartened after some had even shown up in stetsons and red-white-and-blue sashes in an apparent nod to the star’s recent album Cowboy Carter.

So, where did the rumors come from?

While Beyoncé has not publicly endorsed Harris for 2024, she indicated her support for the vice president by granting her rights to useFreedom as the official anthem of the Harris campaign almost as soon as it launched.

When Trump’s campaign used the song without permission during a video of the former president stepping off a plane in Michigan this week, the singer sent him a cease-and-desist letter. The post featuring the video on X was quickly deleted.

Beyoncé, who voted for President Joe Biden during the 2020 election, also gave Harris and husband Doug Emhoff tickets worth approximately $1,655 to her Renaissance Tour in 2023.

The rumor mill was already building during the week that the star could put in an appearance in Chicago.

Then, on Thursday, TMZ reported – citing multiple sources – that the artist would give a surprise performance on Harris’s big