"No amount of money is worth my peace" — Beyoncé explains on why she does not use her personal life to sell her work

Beyoncé elaborated on her desire to draw clear boundaries between her work and personal life when she appeared in an interview for GQ Magazine's October cover story. The interview was published on September 10 under the headline "The Business of Being Beyoncé Knowles-Carter."

When asked how she managed to reconcile her hectic work life with being a person wanting to enjoy the world, she said:

"One thing I’ve worked extremely hard on is making sure my kids can have as much normalcy and privacy as possible, ensuring my personal life isn’t turned into a brand. It’s very easy for celebrities to turn our lives into performance art. I have made an extreme effort to stay true to my boundaries and protect myself and my family. No amount of money is worth my peace."

She added that we lived in a "world of access", reminiscing how she and her husband Jay-Z fell in love using calling cards and Skype sessions. She compared it to how her children can now use FaceTime at any time of the day to call their friends.

---

Beyoncé talks about her daughter performing at her tour

Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z's 12-year-old daughter, became a fan favorite when she showed up to dance during My Power and Black Parade at her mother's 'Renaissance World Tour' in 2023. During her GQ interview, Beyoncé recounted how her daughter fought to be on that stage with her every day, calling her an artist.

"Blue is an artist. She has great taste in music and fashion. She is a fantastic editor, painter, and actress. She has been creating characters since she was three. She’s a natural, but I did not want Blue onstage. Blue wanted it for herself. She took it seriously and she earned it. And most importantly, she had fun! We all watched her grow more and more every night before our eyes," she said.

The 43-year-old singer also said she scheduled her work around her kids, ensuring she only went on tour when they were out of school. She added her kids, Blue and twins Rumi and Sir, accompanied her to her studio while she worked.

In the interview, Beyoncé also talked about her new whiskey brand SirDavis, created with Hennessy and named after her great-grandfather. When asked why she chose whiskey as her next business venture, the singer recalled trying the liquor for the first time and being mesmerized by its color, smell, taste, and texture.

She added that making whiskey was an art form, saying the alcohol was for everyone who appreciates "depth, complexity, and a bit of mystery." Beyoncé's alcohol business comes after the singer launched her hair care brand Cécred in February 2024.

Meanwhile, on the musical front, Beyoncé's eighth studio album Cowboy Carter received zero nominations at the Country Music Awards. The snub came despite her making history as the first Black woman to top the Billboard country album charts, in addition to her song Texas Hold ’Em topping Billboard's country song charts.

During Cowboy Carter's release, Beyoncé revealed that the album was meant to be chronologically released as the first chapter of a trilogy. However, she had to change her plans because of the pandemic.

“I was initially going to put ‘Cowboy Carter’ out first, but with the pandemic, there was too much heaviness in the world. We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance. But I had to trust God’s timing,” she said in a press release after the album's release.

The 27-track concept album was released on March 29, 2024, as the sequel to the trilogy that started with her 2022 album Renaissance.