On her way! Beyoncé scored the award for Best R&B Song at the 2023 Grammys for “Cuff It” — but traffic kept her from accepting the trophy.
“For real, Beyoncé is on her way. But you know the upside of hosting the Grammys in Los Angeles is that everyone can be here. The downside of hosting in Los Angeles is the traffic,” host Trevor Noah explained on Sunday, February 5, after the singer, 41, didn’t appear on stage. “Beyoncé is on her way.”
Earlier in the night, Noah, 38, noted that the Texas native was in the building, but cameras did not pan to her. Viewers instead caught a shot of Lizzo reacting to the news that Beyoncé would be making an appearance at the awards show.
“Where’s Beyoncé?” the “About Damn Time” performer, 34, said as she looked around the room at the Crypto.com Arena. Beyoncé’s husband, Jay-Z, was briefly seen in the audience at the time.
The former Daily Show host, for his part, kept the praise coming ahead of Beyoncé’s arrival. “Beyoncé is nominated for her album Renaissance. Which by the way, was better than anything from the actual Renaissance in my opinion. The Renaissance was just pictures of grapes and stuff,” the comedian quipped. “Beyoncé took it up another level. In fact, I was so inspired by the lyrics of ‘Break My Soul’ that I actually quit my job.”
Noah concluded: “That’s how powerful that was. I just wish Beyoncé had written a song about the importance of having savings before you quit your job. But maybe the next one.”
As fans awaited Beyoncé’s arrival, many took to social media to laugh off her being fashionably late. “Not Beyoncé put the Grammys on the waitlist too 
,” a commentator tweeted, referring to the songwriter’s upcoming tour that sold out tickets in record time.
Another social media user wrote, “Beyoncé is not even here to pick up her award.. Hahaha.. The Carter’s move on their own time..”
Meanwhile, a third person joked that the dancer wasn’t at fault for her initial absence. “BEYONCE ISNT LATE. THE GRAMMYS SIMPLY STARTED TOO EARLY,” they tweeted on Sunday.
The former Destiny’s Child member scored the most nominations with nine nods for her album Renaissance, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Dance/Electronic Recording, Best R&B Performance, Best Traditional R&B Performance and more. She is now tied with Jay-Z, 53, for most nominated artists in Grammy history and took home two trophies — Best Dance/Electronic Recording and Best Traditional R&B Performance — pre-show.
