Beyoncé grew up in Houston, and began to pursue music at a young age. Despite being a shy child, she began performing for audiences as soon as she could. As she got older, she said she began to listen to music that she hadn’t accessed in her youth. She admitted that she missed out on a lot of music.
Beyoncé said she missed out on music while growing up
Beyoncé said that as she aged, she began discovering music and activities that had previously been unfamiliar to her. She felt that growing up in Houston meant she missed out on certain cultural touchpoints.
“Because I grew up in Houston, where the radio and culture are different, I missed out on a lot,” she told Vibe Magazine in 2002.
She said that discovering artists like Miles Davis and Shuggie Otis opened up a new world for her. She also listened to artists she liked as a child with new ears.
“I’ve always loved Aretha [Franklin], but now I understand the lyrics to her songs,” she said. “I’m like, Now I feel you exactly, because that’s how I feel.”
Beyoncé said she also wanted to take inspiration from her new experiences, like her yoga practice and language lessons.
“All those things are beautiful to me, so wonderful,” she said. “And I just want to put all of that into my music.”
Beyoncé shared one of her favorite artists when she was growing up
Beyoncé still listened to music growing up, even if she feels she missed some things. Her mother introduced her to Anita Baker as a child.
“I grew up in Houston, Texas, and my mother owned a hair salon,” Beyoncé told BBC Radio in 2009. “And they always listened to really smooth music, and I will never forget my childhood – I had my share of Anita Baker.”
She said Baker inspired her own music.
“She has the smoothest voice, and her tone is so beautiful,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what lyrics or what melody [she’s singing], it’s just to hear her sing ‘ooh,’ ‘aah,’ or anything – it’s just so beautiful and soothing. I love how this song makes me feel, and Anita Baker is one of my inspirations.”
She spoke about what she was like as a child
While Beyoncé believed she missed out on some music while growing up, she was still preparing for her future as a singer. She said she was shy as a kid and spent a great deal of time stretching her imagination.
“The first decade of my life was dedicated to dreaming,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2021. “Because I was an introvert, I didn’t speak very much as a child. I spent a lot of time in my head building my imagination.”
She believed that being shy helped her.
“I am now grateful for those shy years of silence,” she said. “Being shy taught me empathy and gave me the ability to connect and relate to people. I’m no longer shy, but I’m not sure I would dream as big as I dream today if it were not for those awkward years in my head.”
