Though Lizzo can now count Beyoncé as one of her contemporaries, the “About Damn Time” singer revealed that the former Destiny’s Child singer played a large part in her desires to become a musician, especially while living in Houston and seeing Bey succeed, the 34-year-old pop star told ELLE UK in an interview published Wednesday (July 20).
“Growing up in Houston, the impact that Destiny’s Child had on me making a decision to become an artist was incredible, mostly because I felt like we were so close to it,” Lizzo explained. “Everyone had their, “I saw Beyoncé when…” or, “I saw Destiny’s Child at this party…” stories. And that made it seem more accessible. Like, “Oh, maybe I can do this too, if I worked hard enough and had the right people around me.’”
Lizzo then had the chance to see Destiny’s Child perform, which further inspired her own dreams for stardom: “They had an album-signing event at a Wal-Mart and I skipped school to go see them. I listened to them sing their gospel medley. I’ve seen Beyoncé maybe up to 10 times live now, and she continues to give me that feeling…That excitement never goes away.”
Speaking of Beyoncé’s mission with her music, Lizzo explained, “she doesn’t just put out music for the sake of putting out music – there’s going to be something real, you know what I mean? A teachable moment. Every time I hear her, it’s like, “Man, I want to make people feel this way. How can I make people feel this way, too?’”
Lizzo is well on her way to achieving greatness in her own way — she currently has three Grammy Award under her belt and Special track “About Damn Time” is sitting at the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Read Lizzo’s full interview with ELLE UK here.