- Beyoncé praises Michelle Obama as a "brilliant black woman" and "beacon of hope" in a personal essay written for Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people.
- The singer also recalled the first time she met the former first lady, describing her as a "warm, regal, confident woman."
- Obama has also shared kind words for Beyoncé in the past, calling her smart, creative, and a "great mother."
In addition to dropping an epic Netflix documentary and an accompanying 40-track album, Beyoncé also found the time to honour former first lady Michelle Obama for Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In a touching essay, the multi-talented artist reflected on her first time meeting Obama and praised her as a "brilliant black woman" and "beacon of hope."
"When I first met her, I was embraced by a warm, regal, confident woman who possessed a reassuring calm, on the eve of President Obama’s historic first Inauguration," Bey wrote. (She performed at both his 2009 inaugural ball and 2013 inauguration.)
"The way she looked, walked and spoke, in that warm but authoritative tone, we saw our mothers and sisters," she continued. "She was strong and ambitious and spoke her mind without sacrificing honesty or empathy. That takes a lot of courage and discipline."
Beyoncé underlined the significance of Obama's role as the first African American first lady of the United States. "[She] resembled us and was moving in spaces where, as black Americans, we weren’t exactly meant to be, she seemed so powerful," she wrote. The singer also applauded how the former FLOTUS "used her position of power to improve the world around her" by promoting causes like higher education and healthy living.
Bey added that she's "honored to know such a brilliant black woman" and feels "so grateful" that her children "live in a world where Michelle Obama shines as a beacon of hope who inspires all of us to do better and to be better."
Beyoncé and the former FLOTUS are known to be good friends. In addition to their meet-ups at the White House, they also hugged it out at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival and Obama has been spotted supporting the singer at her shows.
"She's a sweetheart," Obama said of the multi-time Grammy winner during a 2016 interview with Stephen Colbert. "She's smart, she's creative, she's a great mother, she loves her family. She's just a low-key lady. So we have a lot in common in that way—except I cant sing, I can't dance."
See the full Time 100 list here.
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now.
