SUPERSTAR BEYONCÉ COMPLETES SEARCH FOR 10-PIECE ALL-FEMALE BAND

dateline - New York - June 22, 2006; source: Music World Music/Sony Urban Music/Columbia Records)

Pop culture superstar Beyoncé has completed her search for an all-female band and selected ten (plus two alternate) musicians to become her touring ensemble in support of her second solo album, "B'Day," slated for stateside release on Tuesday, September 5.



Some 1,000 aspiring musicians showed up for open-call auditions held earlier this month in New York, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles. 30 finalists were flown by Beyoncé from their localities around the country into New York City to meet up with ten New York area finalists for an intense set of decisive auditions at the Sony Music Studios. Beyoncé made her final band choices last Sunday.



Beyoncé will perform live at the 2006 BET Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, June 27 at 8pm (Eastern/Pacific)/7pm (Central). (Check your local television listings.)



While an all-female band is rarity enough in the worlds of R&B and pop, Beyoncé has doubled the funk by including two drummers and a percussionist in her groundbreaking new ensemble.



With a look as hot as their sound, the members of Beyoncé's new band represent a diverse range of cultures and ethnicities. The names of Beyoncé's new bandmates will be revealed soon. The personnel was drawn from the following locations.



The Band:

Horn section - Tenor Sax (from New York City); Trumpet (from Summit, New Jersey); Alto Sax (from Denver, Colorado)

Drums (from Los Angeles, California and Fredericksburg, Virginia)

Percussion (from Houston, Texas)

Keyboards - 1st keyboards (from Saga, Japan); 2nd keyboards (from Houston, Texas)

Bass (from Atlanta, Georgia)

Guitar (from Denver, Colorado)



In addition, Beyoncé has chosen an alternate bassist from Tel Aviv, Israel and an alternative keyboardist from New York City.

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http://www.welovebeyonce..../press.php

Lads get the kleenex ready!!!!!

It looks like Beyonce's peeps are trying to establish her as "legitimate" artist with this moves. Having a touring band will set her apart from her peers, like Ciara, Ashanti, etc.

Although I am 100% sure that Tamar will never have Beyonce type success, I wonder if Beyonce's peeps jacked the live backing band move from Prince.

Whatever the case, it's a wrap for Beyonce's counterparts.

I wonder if her new band will perform with her on Tuesday at the BET Awards.???

Better than those usual r&b bands, with young, angry looking dudes..lol

PurpleCharm said:

Yes they will.In one of the press release emails it mentions that they have to be ready to be on the road by June 20th which possibly meant to learn a new routine for the following week of the BET Awards...

Umm, this might be interesting if they released their names

much props to B for getting a live band but wats so groundbreaking?

ABeautifulOne said:

Thanks. I'm looking forward to see them perform.

Somebody flew out from ISRAEL? Wow.

CalhounSq said:

exactly, wtf

CinisterCee said:

Man, somebody just tell me if Rhonda is from ATL

i'm glad she found her band. what bothers me is this awe and amazement by people the minute a female picks up an instrument. yes, it is rare to see an all female band, especially these days; but it's not a miracle either. in the end it was a great marketing ploy for Beyoncé.




to add...
on a positive note, hopefully this will inspire more young women to form their own bands and put an end to this "shock" of female musicianship. good move Beyoncé.



.
[Edited 6/25/06 21:02pm]

CHIC0 said:

Pop culture thinks it special. Its not, really. Most bands are male-dominated and so people have developed streotypes.

BlaqueKnight said:

yeah. i understand that. but it's not like it's the 1st time a woman has played an instrument this century or decade even. Sheila E.,the Runaways, Hole, the Go~Go's , etc... but i agree. bottom line comes down to stereotyping.
thanks eMpTyV

CHIC0 said:

I think it's a good move for Beyonce, and it shouldn't be newsworthy that the people behind the instruments (actual instruments) are women. Wanna impress me even more, Beyonce? Hire some oogly women to play with you.

"Hot damn, I got an all-girl band!"

BlaqueKnight said:

Don't you mean "Probably will be fixed"

Well here's the story on one of the drummers via Martin Luther's blog
http://blog.myspace.com/i...A388153640

Everybody's all excited, that's cute.












































So what odds are the bookies giving, for this "band" making it all the way through the tour? Hey, don't get mad at me, y'all know Beyonce can't keep a group together!
[Edited 6/26/06 14:13pm]

SexyBeautifulOne said:

Well, they've signed one year contracts.

You can get a peak of the group on YouTube, just search under "beyonce band".

It doesn't look like she just went for the size 2 hotties either.

I watched the YouTube snippet. Beyonce is neither here nor there on my radar but I admit I'm a little curious about the band which I guess will be sated if I can stomach the BET Awards tomorrow.

What would be groundbreaking is if Beyonce herself picked up an instrument and played it on stage.

Does anyone remember the house band for the Keenan Ivory Wayans Show back in the early 90's? Beyonce should've looked them girls up.

Scorpion said:

Sometimes I just wish Beyonce wouldn't talk. "And I said, 'Wow, that's weird. My birthday's the same day. I should name my album B-Day.'"

Anyway, great clip. It would have been nice if the veejay could have stopped yammering. The band looks good, but I would like to have heard what they sounded like.
[Edited 6/27/06 5:44am]

I'm serious when I say Beyonce and her band should perform this song, as long as she doesn't oversing it. But that's like asking a dog not to lick his balls.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...ch=Klymaxx

Saw her open BET, didn't seem like the band wasn't really playing.

The backing vocals were cleaerly tracks, but i think the whole music was.