Beyoncé released both her new Netflix documentary and surprise live album, both titled Homecoming, on Wednesday, offering fans an intimate look into what went into her legendary Coachella 2018 set. While providing insight into her creative process, she also opened up about giving birth to twins and the path to recovery after an emergency C-section.
Bey gave birth to twins Sir and Rumi in June 2017, just a few months after she was originally scheduled to perform at Coachella in '17. Of course, she eventually went on to perform the following year, but due to the "difficult pregnancy," she almost didn't pull it off in 2018, either. "My body went through more than I knew it could," she revealed. "I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth. I had an extremely difficult pregnancy. I had high blood pressure. I developed toxemia, preeclampsia, and in the womb, one of my babies’ heart beats paused a few times, so I needed to get an emergency C-section."
After the toll the pregnancy took on her body, she said that she had to "rebuild" it before Coachella 2018, which was her first time onstage after giving birth to the twins. "There were days that I thought I’d never be the same... physically, and my strength and endurance would never be the same," she explained. "I learned a valuable lesson: I will never, never push myself that far again. I feel like I’m a new woman in a new chapter of my life and I’m not even trying to be who I was."
During the documentary, she also revealed that she had complete creative control over her set. "I personally selected each dancer, every light, the material on the steps," she said. "The height of the pyramid, the shape of the pyramid. Every patch was hand sewn. Every tiny detail had intention."
Homecoming is now available to stream on Netflix.
