3 Eternal Beyoncé Songs that Have Stood the Test of Time

The 42-year-old, Houston-born Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is a lot of things to a lot of people. The artist who came up as a teenager in the 1990s with her group Destiny’s Child has since become a global icon for her hits, deep cuts, marriage to rapper Jay-Z, beauty, and willingness to switch sonic gears mid-career.

Over the course of her decades-long stint in the public eye, Beyoncé has released more than a dozen albums, including the groundbreaking Lemonade and Cowboy Carter, and garnered the most Grammy Award wins ever with 32. Suffice to say she’s released several songs that have since stood the test of time. Here below, we wanted to explore a trio of those tunes. Indeed, these are three eternal songs by Beyoncé.

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“Texas Hold ‘Em” from Cowboy Carter (2024)

The latest entry in the eternal Beyoncé catalog, this song comes from her 2024 release Cowboy Carter, which itself comes on the heels of her celebrated 2022 album Renaissance. The banjo-driven country song, which features beloved Americana artist and historian Rhiannon Giddens, caused quite a stir upon its release for the country crossover from one of the world’s biggest pop stars. But labels and boxes notwithstanding, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” is an exquisite song rich with snarl and melody. On the track, Beyoncé sings buoyantly,

This ain’t Texas (woo), ain’t no hold ’em (hey)

So lay your cards down, down, down, down

So park your Lexus (woo) and throw your keys up (hey)

Stick around, ’round, ’round, ’round, ’round (stick around)

And I’ll be damned if I can’t slow dance with you

Come pour some sugar on me, honey too

It’s a real life boogie and a real life hoedown

Don’t be a b—h, come take it to the floor now, woo, huh (woo)

“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” from I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008)

An anthem for strong, powerful women who know their value but also want more. The soundtrack for shoulda-woulda-coulda men who thought they could hang with the goddesses but not offer long-term love, this song from Beyoncé from her 2008 alter ego LP I Am… Sasha Fierce will forever be played and referenced when potential spouses drop the ball and let a good one go. On the hit song, Queen Bey sings,

If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it

If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it

Don’t be mad once you see that he want it

If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it

I got gloss on my lips, a man on my hips

Got me tighter in my Dereon jeans

Acting up, drink in my cup

I can care less what you think

I need no permission, did I mention

Don’t pay him any attention

Cause you had your turn and now you gonna learn

What it really feels like to miss me

“Run the World (Girls)” from 4 (2011)

Sometimes a message is best delivered directly and if there was any doubt about who Queen Bey thought was making all the real moves in the world, this track has the answer. As if a response to James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” this track highlights the fortitude and foresight of women. And on the song, Beyoncé sings unabashedly,

Some of them men think they freak this

Like we do, but no they don’t

Make your check, come at they neck

Disrespect us, no they won’t

Boy, don’t even try to touch this (touch this)

Boy, this beat is crazy (crazy)

This is how they made me (made me)

Houston, Texas, baby

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