Beyonce

2008viral videoclassic

Beyoncé is an American pop singer whose career fed a string of internet meme moments between 2006 and 2016, from the Single Ladies dance parodies and Kanye's 'Imma let you finish' VMA interruption to the 'haters to the left' catchphrase and the surprise Lemonade HBO drop.

music memescatchphrase memesdance memescelebrity reaction memesfandom hype memes

Overview

Beyoncé Knowles moved from Destiny's Child into a solo career that fed a string of internet meme moments from the mid-2000s onward1. The Beyoncé meme is a cluster of formats rather than one template, spanning the Single Ladies dance parodies2, the 'Imma let you finish' VMA interruption, and the 'haters to the left' catchphrase pulled from her 2006 single 'Irreplaceable'4.

Her fanbase, known as the Beyhive, showed up on the gossip board Lipstick Alley before August 2006 and was added to Urban Dictionary in November 20115. Beyoncé embraced the name in early 2011 by adding a Beyhive fan-photo section to her personal website1.

How It Spread

The Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) music video premiered on MTV's Total Request Live in October 2008, choreographed by Frank Gatson and JaQuel Knight1. A November 2008 Saturday Night Live sketch with Justin Timberlake in a leotard set off tens of thousands of copy-cat clips, and when the official YouTube upload landed a year later it drew 75 million views in its first month2.

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards added another Beyoncé moment when Kanye West grabbed the mic from Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech to declare Beyoncé had 'one of the best music videos of all time,' spawning the 'Imma let you finish' image-macro template; Beyoncé later invited Swift back onstage to finish her speech after winning Video of the Year for Single Ladies4.

In October 2013 a Beyoncé photoshoot outside an old house in Brunswick, Melbourne turned into the #BeyonceInBrunswick hashtag, with local fans mimicking her poses and Melbourne comedy duo Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly launching a single-topic image-macro blog the same day4. Beyoncé dropped her self-titled fifth album on iTunes without warning in December 2013 and released Lemonade as an hour-long HBO special on April 23, 20161.

How to Use This Meme

The Single Ladies dance is typically performed by three dancers in matching black leotards, hitting the sharp arm-flick and hip-swivel on the 'if you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it' hook2. Fans often use the Beyhive tag when rushing to Beyoncé's defense online, and the tag doubles as a badge of fan identity on social platforms5.

Frequently Asked Questions

Beyonce

2008viral videoclassic

Beyoncé is an American pop singer whose career fed a string of internet meme moments between 2006 and 2016, from the Single Ladies dance parodies and Kanye's 'Imma let you finish' VMA interruption to the 'haters to the left' catchphrase and the surprise Lemonade HBO drop.

music memes catchphrase memes dance memes celebrity reaction memes fandom hype memes

Overview

Beyoncé Knowles moved from Destiny's Child into a solo career that fed a string of internet meme moments from the mid-2000s onward1. The Beyoncé meme is a cluster of formats rather than one template, spanning the Single Ladies dance parodies2, the 'Imma let you finish' VMA interruption, and the 'haters to the left' catchphrase pulled from her 2006 single 'Irreplaceable'4.

Her fanbase, known as the Beyhive, showed up on the gossip board Lipstick Alley before August 2006 and was added to Urban Dictionary in November 20115. Beyoncé embraced the name in early 2011 by adding a Beyhive fan-photo section to her personal website1.

How It Spread

The Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) music video premiered on MTV's Total Request Live in October 2008, choreographed by Frank Gatson and JaQuel Knight1. A November 2008 Saturday Night Live sketch with Justin Timberlake in a leotard set off tens of thousands of copy-cat clips, and when the official YouTube upload landed a year later it drew 75 million views in its first month2.

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards added another Beyoncé moment when Kanye West grabbed the mic from Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech to declare Beyoncé had 'one of the best music videos of all time,' spawning the 'Imma let you finish' image-macro template; Beyoncé later invited Swift back onstage to finish her speech after winning Video of the Year for Single Ladies4.

In October 2013 a Beyoncé photoshoot outside an old house in Brunswick, Melbourne turned into the #BeyonceInBrunswick hashtag, with local fans mimicking her poses and Melbourne comedy duo Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly launching a single-topic image-macro blog the same day4. Beyoncé dropped her self-titled fifth album on iTunes without warning in December 2013 and released Lemonade as an hour-long HBO special on April 23, 20161.

How to Use This Meme

The Single Ladies dance is typically performed by three dancers in matching black leotards, hitting the sharp arm-flick and hip-swivel on the 'if you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it' hook2. Fans often use the Beyhive tag when rushing to Beyoncé's defense online, and the tag doubles as a badge of fan identity on social platforms5.

Frequently Asked Questions