Iconic Beyoncé Moments That Live Rent-Free In Our Heads

Ever since Beyoncé surprise dropped her seminal self-titled album in 2013 she's made two things clear. 1) There's always a palpable difference between the World Before Beyoncé Drops New Music and the World After Beyoncé Drops New Music and 2) She's one of the world's greatest living entertainers (Rolling Stone approved).

Maybe the coolest thing about Beyoncé is that we've seen her develop and grow as a singer and performer. From her early days in Destiny's Child to her debut solo album Dangerously in Love to her revelatory visual album Lemonade, it's safe to say that Beyoncé owns some hard-earned prime real estate in the cultural consciousness.

As she releases her highly-anticipated seventh studio album Renaissance, here are 16 iconic Beyoncé moments that live rent-free in our heads!

Beyoncé Interviews Aaliyah At The 2000 MTV Movie Awards

During the same year Destiny's Child was seeing massive success with worldwide hits like "Independent Women," and "Survivor," Beyoncé tested out her interviewing skills on the 2000 MTV Movie Awards and got to interview the late legend, Aaliyah!

Prince Brings Out Beyoncé For A Show-Stopping 2004 Grammy Performance

It takes a special person to hold their own on a stage with the legendary Prince. The two artists shared the mic for a passionate performance of a medley of some of the late entertainer's biggest hits. In a later interview, Prince revealed that he was pleased to find out Beyoncé was the real deal. “I was really curious as to how much she knew musically,” he recalled. “I was really pleased to find out that she knew a lot about scales — Mixolydian scales and Egyptian styles.” 

Beyoncé and Jay-Z Join Forces For "Crazy In Love" Music Video

When Jay-Z said "history in the making," at the beginning of Beyoncé's 2003 hit "Crazy In Love," he really meant it! The future husband and wife duo teamed up for a music video that proved that the newly-solo singer was just getting started with the massively successful Destiny's Child.

When Beyoncé Cut Her Own Speech Short To Give Taylor Swift Her Moment At The 2009 VMAs

America fell a bit more in love with Beyoncé when she cut her 2009 VMAs speech short to bring out Taylor Swift. For those who need a refresher, Kanye West stirred up some drama at the awards show when he interrupted Taylor's acceptance speech for Best Female Video of the year to announce that Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" should have taken home the title. Beyoncé proved she was a class act after righting Kanye's wrong and giving Taylor a chance to have her moment uninterrupted.

Beyoncé's "Love On Top" Performance Turns Into A Pregnancy Announcement At The 2011 VMAs

This may be Beyoncé's first public surprise! At the 2011 VMAs, the singer pleasantly shocked the nation when she revealed her growing baby bump at the end of her pitch-perfect performance of the song "Love On Top." The image of her smiling in that sparkly purple suit and rubbing her belly? Talk about rent-free!

When She Shocked Literally Everyone By Surprise Dropping 2013's Beyoncé

Beyoncé shook up the music industry when she decided she wanted to take a unique approach to the album's rollout and not do any promotion prior to the release day. "It's all about the single, and the hype," she said about her intentions behind the surprise drop. "It's so much that gets between the music and the art and the fans. I felt like, I don't want anybody to get the message, when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it's ready and from me to my fans."

Destiny's Child Reunites At The 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Beyoncé gave one of the best Super Bowl Halftime shows in February of 2013. The singer plowed through some of her biggest hits at the time including "Run the World (Girls)," "Love On Top, and " Crazy in Love," before bringing out Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for the ultimate Destiny's Child reunion. At the time, the performance generated over 299,000 tweets per minute making it the most-tweeted moment in Twitter's history!

When Beyoncé's Hair Got Caught In A Fan While Performing & She Handled It Like A Pro

She also posted this hilarious note on Instagram after the mishap during her Montreal show on The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013.

Who Can Forget This Iconic Fan Interaction Which Beyoncé Included In The Official Live Video For "Say My Name?"

Beyoncé Shows Everyone How To Have Fun At Home With The 7/11 Music Video

Beyoncé Drops One Of The Greatest Albums Of All Time: Lemonade

There was little else anyone wanted to talk about after Beyoncé released her sixth studio album and second visual album Lemonade. The universally acclaimed and beloved album saw the singer open up about Jay-Z's infidelity while exploring a variety of genres from rock, hip hop, soul, country, reggae, gospel, electronic, and trap. The ambitious artistic endeavor is even listed as No. 32 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

When This Perfect Braid Flip Became The Ultimate Meme

Beyoncé Takes Her Maternity Photos To The Next Level

Leave it to Beyoncé to take something as average as a maternity photo shoot and elevate it to high art! The singer shut down the internet when she released this gorgeous photo announcing she was pregnant with her twins Rumi and Sir.

Beyoncé Makes History By Headlining Coachella In 2018

One word: Beychella. If you weren't at Beyoncé's headlining Coachella set in 2018, you were probably huddled around a computer or phone screen watching the live stream. Being the first African American woman to headline the festival, Beyoncé used the stage to pay tribute to historically black colleges and universities with help from a marching band and majorette dancers and also incorporated aspects of black Greek life. She also had on-stage appearances for the two-night gig including her husband Jay-Z, her sister Solange, as well as Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for another Destiny's Child reunion. The historic performances were recorded and released on Netflix as the concert film Homecoming.

Beyoncé Breaks A New Record As The Most Awarded Singer In Grammy History

With a total of 28 awards and 79 nominations from the Grammy Awards for her music (including her work in Destiny's Child and The Carters), she is the most nominated woman and the most awarded singer in Grammy history!

All The Times Beyoncé Slayed On The Met Gala Red Carpet

We were disappointed to see that Beyoncé skipped out on this year's Met Gala, but luckily we have all these stunning looks from her previous turns on the red carpet to keep us going until the next First Monday in May! From 2012 to 2016, Beyoncé has chosen to wear stunning pieces from Givenchy Haute Couture. According to Vogue, her most daring look was the "naked dress" she wore back in 2016.