On January 31, Beyoncé announced her upcoming tour, promoting her most recent album, “RENAISSANCE,” on Instagram. Dates and cities were released on her official website in the following days with some extra shows added due to popular demand. Being that it is her first tour in four years, fans are excited to see what is in store for Beyoncé’s upcoming performances. 

Around the time of the announcement, excitement had already been stirring as a result of the nominations the artist recieved at the Grammy awards. Beyoncé was nominated for nine awards, more than any other artist at the event. She went on to win four Grammys this year, with Renaissance receiving an award for Best Electronic/Dance album.  With that, Beyoncé became the most-awarded artist in Grammy history, with a total of 32 Grammy wins throughout her career (NPR). 

Excitement for the tour also comes from Beyoncé’s past performances. For example, her last tour was 2016’s “Formation” tour, with 49 performance dates over a span of 6 months (Variety). The tour, which featured no guest performers until Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z made appearances during the last show in MetLife Stadium, was praised for Beyoncé’s powerful performance.

While there is much speculation regarding possible guest appearances for the upcoming tour, many are simply looking forward to an entertaining performance. Most recently, Beyoncé performed in Dubai on January 21, 2023. Her first full concert in four years was full of theatrics including fireworks, costume changes, an all-female orchestra, and a dance troupe. Interestingly, no songs from her most recent album were performed.

Her album, “RENAISSANCE,” has gained praise from fans and critics alike since its release. With Beyoncé stating that the album is involved in a three-part project, fans are excited to see the direction of her future endeavors. With the album consisting of the first part of the project, some speculate the tour could be a second part. Others think “RENAISSANCE” or similar releases may be related to the three-project deal Beyoncé made with Netflix, which already includes a full-length documentary for her 2018 Coachella headlining performance, titled “Homecoming.”

For the tour itself, dates have been released for the spring and summer of 2023. Despite being announced as a ‘world tour’, the listed cities only fall between western Europe and a few North American countries. 

Beginning in Stockholm on May 10, Beyoncé will tour throughout European countries including Spain, France, and the UK. Starting in July, Beyoncé will perform in Toronto and US cities until her final show in New Orleans on September 27. 

Since the initial announcement, seven shows have been added to the North American leg of the tour (Deadline). In most cases, a second show was added the following day at the same venue. This occurred in large cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, and Houston. The addition of new tour dates was largely due to high demands from fans. For example, an official statement released explained how “Fan demand already exceeds the number of available tickets by more than 800% based on current registration numbers” (Deadline). 

Furthermore, concert-goers are more concerned with the ticket-buying process due to previous dissatisfaction with Ticketmaster’s handling of sales for Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour in 2022. Despite the addition of extra performances, sources state that the demand for tickets exceeds the amount available, and will likely leave many fans disappointed (Deadline). As of the first week in February, presale registration has already closed for the new dates announced, but there is still availability for other dates on the tour.