Rumors have been swirling for the last several days that Beyoncé will stop by the Democratic National Convention — but no one seems to know if it will actually happen.
Hours before Vice President Kamala Harris is set to accept the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night, Rolling Stone has learned that Democratic party organizers and Chicago government officials have been preparing for the possibility of Beyoncé’s arrival.
According to two sources familiar with the matter, government officials, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office, local law enforcement personnel, and DNC organizers have been rushing to prepare for potential Beyoncé-related chaos in the Windy City — even if she does not end up showing up.
“It’s been crazy,” says one person familiar with the matter. “People running the show and working here obviously will prepare for Beyoncépalooza… We just keep being told ‘I don’t know’ when this comes up,” adds the source. “It has come up frequently.”
Two on-the-ground sources at the DNC say they heard a marching band sound-checking Beyoncé’s song ”Cuff It” on Thursday, although there were no official sightings of the singer.
If Beyoncé does show up, city officials have war-gamed possible scenarios and preemptively allocated resources to accommodate such an event, the sources add.
One potential scenario that has been actively discussed is the possibility of Beyoncé arriving at the Soldier Field stadium to perform and endorse the Harris-Walz ticket. The Chicago Bears stadium, which saw Beyoncé for her Renaissance tour last July, is set to host a watch party for the overflow crowd who want to watch Harris receive the nomination, but could not get into the convention perimeter.
A separate source close to the campaign tells Rolling Stone that if Beyoncé does arrive at the DNC, they “couldn’t imagine” the singer not appearing onstage with Harris in the arena where the convention is being held.
Chicago officials and Team Kamala organizers have discussed making law enforcement and logistical considerations for Beyoncé’s appearance for days but were hamstrung by the fact that the singer’s team and senior ranks of the Harris campaign would not, or could not, confirm if she is coming.
The Harris-Walz ticket has been using Beyoncé’s Lemonade song “Freedom” on the campaign trail, and in a campaign ad that dropped at night one of the DNC this week. “The Moon? Landed on it. The future? Building it. Freedom? Nobody loves it more,” declares actor Jeffrey Wright in the ad, soundtracked by Queen Bey’s track.
Beyoncé’s team reportedly permitted Harris to use “Freedom” during her campaign just a few hours before her campaign launch event in July. In the aftermath, “Freedom” saw a big uptick in streams, jumping 1,300 percent according to data from Luminate.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are longtime Democrats. Beyoncé endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket a day before the election in 2020, spoke publicly at a Hillary Clinton rally ahead of the 2016 election, and raised funds for and penned a letter to President Barack Obama amid his re-election campaign in 2012.
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