Beyoncé Headlines Britain’s Biggest Music Festival

The singer breaks history, while offering up a little of her own.

By Jorge Rivas Jul 01, 2011

Beyoncé recently became the first woman ever to headline Britain’s Glastonbury festival, and she made history by offering up a little of her own.

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, often recognized as just Glastonbury, has been around since 1970 and is the largest music festival in the U.K. Beyoncé  now joins the likes of Van Morrison, David Bowie and Radiohead as the lead headliner of the festival.

"I’ve done a lot of things in my life but I have never performed in front of 175,000 people… I do say thank you, Glastonbury. A girl, a woman, a young lady, has not headlined… so this is history to me… Once again, thank you all for this beautiful night. I will never forget it," Beyoncé told concertgoers.

She also sang her version of Etta James’ "At Last," as images of civil rights era marches projected onto her stage backdrop. The song ended with a raucous applause from the audience as images of President Barack Obama’s inauguration appeared on screen.

But just when you think you’re going to turn into a fan, she throws a colorblind-coded curveball at us.

On Monday, she was the featured guest on Piers Morgan’s CNN show for an interview that was filmed in London. Morgan asked how her race has affected her career. "At least with my career, I’ve kind of broken barriers, and I don’t think people think about my race," Beyoncé says. "I think they look at me as an entertainer and a musician and I’m very happy that’s changing because that’s how I look at people."

That might be true. But maybe it’s because her skintone on the cover of beauty magazines is getting lighter and lighter by the day.

Beyoncé’s fourth studio album "4" was released Tuesday and is currently the best-selling album this week on the iTunes music store.