Interviews with musicians have been an important part of journalism for decades. They offer the stars the opportunity to explain their art, and the journalist, in turn, has the opportunity to ask questions of interest to his readers. Some musicians love doing them, others don't, and it increasingly feels like artists avoid interviews, preferring to listen to their fans via social media or not at all.

Beyoncé

In 2011, Beyoncé was interviewed by Jo Whiley and Lauren Laverne after performing in Glastonbury. The interview turned out to be a bit of a first. Just two years later, Beyoncé made headlines by agreeing to a Vogue cover shoot for their biggest issue of the year, the September issue, but not offering an interview to accompany the footage. This was unusual. why? Well, because she's Beyoncé, and she can do whatever she wants. In fact, her fame has given her that right without fear of the public losing interest. And maybe there's also an element of control here. It's not like Beyoncé has been completely quiet since 2015. She sometimes agrees to appear in the press and carefully choose the stories. She interviewed her sister Solange last year.

Matthew Schneier:

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