Beyoncé Wrote ‘Halo’ With 1 Person in Mind

Beyoncé has a massive catalog of music that has only gotten larger after more than 20 years in the business. However, one of Beyoncé‘s most popular songs and one that she often closes her shows with is “Halo.” It is a stunning R&B ballad that has remained timeless in the years since it first debuted.

The Homecoming singer wrote the gorgeous song with one person in mind.

Beyoncé wrote ‘Halo’ for ‘I Am… Sasha Fierce’

Inspired by Ray LaMontagne’s 2004 song “Shelter,” Beyoncé wrote “Halo” with Ryan Tedder and  Evan “Kidd” Bogart. The Lemonade singer received writing credit for the song because she vocally edited the bridge of the song.

“Halo” was the fourth single off of Beyoncé’s third studio album,  I Am… Sasha Fierce. The singer was widely praised for her vocals on the song and won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards However when it was released there was some major drama around the single. Simon Cowell was upset saying that Tedder and Bogart originally intended the song for singer Leona Lewis. Tedder told Digital Spy,

There was this huge scandal that originally “Halo” was meant to go to Leona. That was never the case … That song was written for Beyoncé. What happened was that Beyoncé waited long enough to record that song … I thought this would be a brilliant first single for Leona, which it would have … What I did was foolishly say to Leona’s camp, “I have it on hold for another A-list artist and I’m pretty sure they’ll take it, but if they don’t, I just want to know if you like it enough to consider it”. I sent it to them and they flipped on it. They loved it and instantly said they wanted to do it. I was like, “Wait, wait, wait, no, it’s not free yet

Beyoncé wrote ‘Halo’ for Jay-Z

Beyoncé had her husband Jay-Z in mind when she helped write “Halo.” The song debuted the same year the couple got married. Beyoncé’s “Halo” lyrics are also quite clear. According to Songs Meanings + Facts,

“Halo” was written specifically with Beyoncé’s relationship with her husband, Jay-Z, in mind. That means that this is actually a love song. And perhaps the simplest way to describe it is as a tune in which the singer is likening her romantic partner to an angelic being, i.e. the “halo” symbolism.  And what this practically means within the context of the song is that he has had a profound, positive effect on her life.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s relationship hasn’t been perfect

In the near 18 years that the couple has been together and the 13 years since they’ve been married, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s relationship has had many ups and downs. Both the singer and the rapper chronicled their relationship woes in their respective albums, Lemonade and 4:44. Much of this had to do with Jay-Z’s infidelity.

“You can be in love, and you can love someone, but if you haven’t experienced love and you don’t understand it, and you don’t have the tools to move forward, then you’re going to have complications,” Jay-Z said on  The Van Jones Show in 2018.

Now, with three children together and powerhouse careers, it looks like the couple are completely in sync.