US singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter announced the dates for her upcoming Formation World Tour after her appearance at the 2016 Super Bowl on February 7. The 40-date world tour will kick off in April and will include North America and Europe. Tickets will go on sale this week.
But that is not the only thing that had the Single Ladies singer trending on the Internet. She took to the stage last night to perform alongside Bruno Mars (born-Peter Hernandez) and Coldplay during the Sunday Super Bowl halftime show, which is one of the most-watched events on TV in the US.
Beyoncé didn’t disappoint with an electrifying performance of her latest single, Formation. She also performed Mark Ronson’s hit Uptown Funk with Mars. Beyoncé and Mars ended up stealing the spotlight from halftime show headliners, Coldplay, The Guardian reported.
Beyoncé, Chris Martin and Bruno Mars (Beyonce Facebook).
The British rock band performed its hits and recent offering Adventure of a Lifetime but it didn’t perform Hymn for the Weekend, which features Beyoncé. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin felt it wouldn’t be “right” to perform the song, according to Associated Press.
The video for Hymn for the Weekend recently received backlash for cultural appropriation. In the video we see the band at the centre of the Holi festival in India, while Beyonce’s hands are adorned with henna art.
“The video is a beautiful work of cinematography, yet it is untethered from meanings of religious and social significance the imagery contains,” The Guardian reported.
Beyoncé found herself in hot water again with the release of her video for Formation ahead of the Super Bowl performance.
A pair of documentary filmmakers, Abteen Bagheri and Chris Black, accused music video director Melina Matsoukas of using footage from their film, That B.E.A.T., in Formation without their permission.
But amid all the drama, Formation still received some positive reviews.
Rolene Strauss ties the knot
Rolene Strauss. (Supplied)
Former Miss World and Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss said “I do” to her longtime partner D’Niel Strauss on Saturday in Somerset West, Western Cape. Strauss posted a photo from the wedding with the caption: “‘To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven’~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 This is our time…”
See pics below
Rolene Strauss’s wedding gown was designed by local designer Casper Bosman.(thealeitgroup Instagram)
Rolene Strauss and D’Niel Strauss. (Rolene Strauss Facebook)
Rolene Strauss and D’Niel Strauss. (Somethingdifferentsa Instagram)
Earth, Wind & Fire band member dies
Maurice White. (Bruce W. Talamon, 1980, ARR/Facebook)
The founder and co-lead singer of US soul and funk band Earth, Wind & Fire, Maurice White, died in his sleep on February 4 at his home in Los Angeles. White, who was 74 years old, suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and had retreated from performing with the band, Associated Press reported.
In 2000, White revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Earth, Wind & Fire gave us the classics, September, Shining Star and After the Love has Gone. White, a Grammy-award winner, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. He wrote and produced songs for Earth, Wind & Fire, James Ingram, El DeBarge and Jennifer Holliday.
He is survived by his wife, his two sons, and his brothers Verdine and Fred.
Boity Thulo traumatised by an attempted smash and grab
TV presenter Boity Thulo became a trending topic on February 3 after she “escaped” an attempted smash and grab in Melville, Johannesburg. Thulo shared her ordeal on Twitter – she posted: “Dude appeared out of God knows where, banged very hard on my window about 3 times and I just put my foot on the accelerator. FML!!”.
Unfortunately for her, not everyone was sympathetic. The incident inspired the hashtag, Boitysurvives, which poked fun at Thulo and her everyday “struggles”.
Rihanna’s “leaked album” reaches number one
Rihanna. (AFP)
It seems the wait of almost four years for pop sensation Rihanna’s new album Anti was worth it. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart, which ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption (album sales and streaming equivalent albums), according to Billboard.
Anti entered the Billboard 200 at Number 27 last week. It was leaked on the streaming service, Tidal, a day before its official release date. Tidal marketing director Grace Kim told SPIN the leak was a “system error”. According to reports, Tidal blames Universal Music Group for the system error.
Last week she tweeted a link to download Anti for free but the free downloads don’t count towards the chart numbers.
“Gift to my navy!!! #ANTI Download with code: ANTI,” she tweeted.
The album was downloaded more than 1 million times.