Beyonce Was a Shy Kid and It Taught Her to Be Empathetic: “Gave Me the Ability to Connect to People”

Beyonce, the name is enough. A powerhouse of talent. She is bold, confident, and a conqueror and she has been in the industry for enough years to make her mark as America's finest singer. Queen Bey is here to stay. Although it's difficult to believe now, but she was a timid child who spoke less and lived more inside her head. She revealed it when she took her fans on a road down memory lane in an interview. 

During a tell-all with Harpers Bazaar in 2021, Queen Bey discussed her two decades in the spotlight and her identity quantifying way more than just being a pop sensation. She is a revolution that has changed the course of music and transformed into someone larger than just a songstress- a cultural force. 

Despite all that she has now become, the 41-year-old was just an average kid in school who was bullied. As the interviewer asked her about crossing four decades of life, Beyonce went straight into her childhood and how an introvert evolved into "now" a force to be reckoned with. 

The Beautiful Liar singer recalled, "The first decade of my life was dedicated to dreaming. Because I was an introvert, I didn't speak very much as a child." She was a daydreamer who was more inside her head and less outside. "I spent a lot of time in my head building my imagination. I am now grateful for those shy years of silence." 

Queen Bey believes her quiet self in her younger days built her the foundation of being empathetic. "Being shy taught me empathy and gave me the ability to connect and relate to people." She credits her "introverted self" but claims this is not the case anymore. Yet she's grateful for that phase in life. 

"I am no longer shy, but I am not sure I would dream as big as I dream today if it were not for those awkward years in my head," Beyonce confessed. The vocalist opened up about her first stint on the stage, her performances as a child, and often being the only "Black girl" in the group. 

Beyonce recounted, "I was competing in dance and singing competitions at age seven. When I was on the stage, I felt safe." She also got "real" about being the odd one out and how it meant she had to work doubly hard to prove she deserved to be where she was. "I was often the only Black girl, and it was then that I started to realize I had to dance and sing twice as hard." 

From the inception, she figured she'd work on her skills to prove her mettle. So she was committed to that. "I had to have stage presence, wit, and charm if I wanted to win. I started taking voice lessons from an opera singer at nine." And it paid her well. "By ten, I had already recorded at least 50 or 60 songs in the recording studio."

The phenomenon that Beyonce is today- behind that was sheer hard work, dedication towards her craft, and a spirit of never giving up on her dreams. She said, "My teenage years were about the grind. I grew up hearing this particular scripture from James 2:17, 'Faith without work is dead.' Vision and intention weren't enough; I had to put in the work." 

Beyonce is now a mother of three kids- nine-year-old Blue Ivy and four-year-old twins Rumi and Sir Carter, with husband Jay-Z.