I was not a BeyHive member and could not be more disappointed in myself

I’m supposed to be writing this story about how to get BeyHive tickets for Beyoncé’s Renaissance world tour, but all I feel is shame.

This singular woman, the most important artist of our generation (yes, I said it), has produced the serendipitous soundtrack to my entire life. And I have failed her as a fan. 

I began my quest to see the queen at the first of her two upcoming Los Angeles area shows as one does, at the Live Nation homepage for what’s bound to be a sold-out world tour with stops across the United States, Europe and more. As I took in the sight of Beyoncé atop the horse that’s become synonymous with the album, memories rose as unexpectedly as the "Lemonade" drop that shocked fans across the world:

“If I Were a Boy” on repeat in my college dorm. 

Newly married and watching Beyoncé and Jay-Z perform “Drunk in Love” at the Grammys, hoping we’d experience the same affection years down the road. 

Pulling over in the hills above Orange County, “Pray You Catch Me” reverberating through a hollow marriage I knew was over but hadn’t yet ended. 

“Sorry” blaring through the speakers and keeping my foot on the gas amid an unapologetic exit to a new city, leaving behind everything I thought I knew but so clearly didn’t.

Tears streaming down my face as I stood behind a Coachella crowd swaying to her operatic ascension from “Don’t Hurt Yourself” to “I Care,” floored by the human ability to hold anger and power, longing and vulnerability, all at once. 

Alone in the dark, my phone lit up with “Renaissance” on the pillowcase, a reminder that we can dance through the anguish, celebrate in the face of loss. 

I can’t believe I get to be alive when Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is making music. I can’t believe I got to see Homecoming in the flesh. I’d sell clothes and furniture to be able to go to one of her live shows again. But as I made my way through the registration for the BeyHive Verified Fan Presale on Ticketmaster, I discovered a very unfortunate reality.  

Reader, I was not a member of the BeyHive. 

Yes, you can say it. 

SHAME.

How do I become a BeyHive verified fan?

I did what any mortified Beyoncé fan would do: I immediately went on Beyonce.com and clicked “Join” in the lower left corner, typing my email and cellphone number as fast as the crowd swelled toward the Coachella stage at the sound of those first notes back in 2018. 

I’m now “among the first to get news, updates and more” from Beyonce.com, according to a confirmation message to my cell phone. Does this mean I’m a member of the BeyHive? Am I eligibile for the presale? To be honest, I’m still unsure, but I’ve spent a good chunk of today looking for clues.

“To be eligible for the BeyHive Verified Fan Presale, you must be a current BeyHive member,” my Ticketmaster confirmation email says. “BeyHive membership is confirmed based on the email address provided at registration.”

I reached out to both Ticketmaster and Beyoncé's company Parkwood Entertainment for comment. 

Some people on the internet buzzed that the BeyHive webpage was reportedly taken down earlier this morning, positing protection of the presale for true fans who were already members; however, I could not independently verify any of these facts.

To make things more confusing: When I signed up for the BeyHive Verified Fan Registration, I was asked to check a box giving my consent for “joining the BeyHive” and “receiving email updates.” The Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy links are both from Beyonce.com. Is this, in effect, a sign up for the BeyHive? 

Am I an even worse fan for not knowing the answers to any of these questions?

What did BeyHive verified fans receive?

There was only one thing left to do: start texting the other devoted Beyoncé fans I know to see if any were bonafide members of the BeyHive. 

“Noooo ugh lol I messed up,” one texted back.

“I thought my purchase would make me a member. Didn’t read the fine print,” another wrote.

Another said they weren't but thought a mutual friend was already registered. Turns out, they were right. 

Rosie Myers has seen Beyonce live four times and this week registered for both the BeyHive and Citi Verified Fan presales. The Los Angeles resident recalls first signing up for the BeyHive when buying a shirt around the time of the Formation tour and has since received emails about new albums, merch and the like, including an announcement Wednesday morning about the Renaissance tour. I breathed a little sigh of relief that the word “BeyHive” was nowhere on that email, which Myers forwarded to me; maybe my sign up on Beyonce.com was indeed enough?

“It goes all the way back to being in college and being a Black woman,” Myers told me about being a Beyoncé fan. “She is so unapologetic about being Black — using that is her superpower and empowering other people to do the same.” 

Like me, Myers is trying to see one of the Los Angeles shows (but has family in both New Orleans and Houston and “will do what I have to do”) and forwarded me a confirmation email from Ticketmaster after registering for the BeyHive presale. Spoiler alert: It’s the same as mine — and the same as one other email I reviewed from a friend who also had not previously been a member of the BeyHive. 

We all registered for the first set of shows in Group A (there are three groups), and we all were told we’d receive an email on Sunday, Feb. 5, “confirming next steps,” according to the Ticketmaster email. 

The bad news is Ticketmaster says demand "already exceeds the number of tickets available by more than 800% based on the registration numbers in the Group A cities."

Time will only tell which of us (if any) receives a unique access code for use on Monday, Feb. 6, Ticketmaster says. 

There is one last potential clue that is making me feel slightly better: An update appeared on the Verified Fan webpage this afternoon that says registration for Group A has been extended through Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. PST.

Is this the queen’s way of bestowing grace on fans like me? Or just a Ticketmaster extension after the addition of seven more shows? 

I can only hope. 

Just in case, I registered for the non-BeyHive sale, too.