Blue Ivy Joined Beyoncé’s Halftime Performance On Christmas Day

As soon as Beyoncé dropped teasers for her Dec. 25 halftime show — catching a football from a rose-covered vintage car, and hanging a football ornament from a cactus — it was clear Christmas 2024 would have a Cowboy Carter theme.

During the Baltimore Ravens versus Houston Texans game, the Grammy winner delivered a performance of hits from her latest album. The halftime show streamed live on Netflix, giving Beyoncé an enormous world stage, but it was also sweetly personal: Beyoncé performed from her hometown, Houston, and also shared the spotlight with her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.

Beyoncé opened the show with pensive tracks, “16 Carriages” and “Blackbiird,” before slipping into dance mode for “Ya Ya,” during which Blue Ivy made her first appearance.

The 12-year-old also joined “Texas Hold ‘Em,” linking arms with her mom for a group square dance. (Beyoncé also seemed to sneak a sweet nod to her daughter in the lyrics, singing, “Spin me in the middle, Blue, I can’t read your mind.”)

Blue Ivy’s cameo was a fun surprise for fans — but if you followed Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, you know that her daughter is no stranger to sharing the stage. As she shared in Beyoncé’s concert documentary (per CNBC), Blue Ivy used criticism of her earlier dance moves as motivation. “I feel like now my mindset has changed, and now I actually have to wake up in the morning, go to rehearsals and I have to actually work harder,” she said.

A Mother-Daughter Team

It’s been a busy holiday season for Beyoncé and Blue Ivy. On Dec. 9, they attended the premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King — for which Beyoncé returns as Nala, and Blue Ivy makes her feature film debut as Nala and Simba’s daughter, Kiara.

In Good Morning America’s behind-the-scenes video from production, Beyoncé teared up while talking about her daughter’s latest project. “Seeing Blue as Kiara and hearing her voice come out of that character, it was really hard to focus and do my job after that,” she said, adding that she needed a moment to “digest” it all.

“She did such a beautiful job and I can’t believe how natural she is. I’m just proud of you,” Beyoncé told her daughter in the featurette.

Blue Ivy, for her part, described everyone who worked on Mufasa as “so helpful and supportive,” and thanked director Barry Jenkins for giving her guidance on lines “in the nicest way possible.”

“I’m really happy for girls that look like me all around the world are able to watch this movie and hear and see themselves in it,” she added.