The making of Beyoncé — by friends, family and Team Bey insiders
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour comes to the UK, we chart the rise of a shy schoolgirl from Texas who became a record-breaking billionaire.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory
Guest: Megan Agnew.
Host: Luke Jones.
Producer: Hannah Varrall.
Further reading: The making of Beyoncé — by friends, family and Team Bey insiders
Clips: CMA Awards 2016, The Howard Stern Show, YouTube/@bvconcerts, Youtube/@Kamala Harris. Thanks to Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia, Warner Chappell Music, Pulse Publishing Administration, Sony Music Publishing.
Photo: Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 1:04.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Luke Jones. |
| 1:13.4 | When you were embarking on this profile, did you even put in an interview request for Beyonce? |
| 1:14.7 | No. |
| 1:23.3 | It was like one of the most intense weeks I've ever had in my career. |
| 1:28.0 | I spoke with this producer, Symbolic One, and he worked on the four album. |
| 1:30.6 | I was part of a song called Best Thing I Never Had. |
| 1:34.9 | Megan Agnew has been trying to get to know a cultural icon. |
| 1:39.9 | I can say it was intense and stressful because she had so much music. |
| 1:48.2 | And he said that when he turned up to produce some of this album, Beyonce had already recorded 75 tracks. |
| 1:55.4 | She was basically like, okay, so I have these five songs that I really love the songs, but I don't care for the production. |
... |
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