who’s who in her team
Carter Sullivan Cardiff will briefly become the centre of the pop universe on Wednesday as Beyoncé begins the UK leg of her blockbusting Renaissance tour at the city’s Principality Stadium. But the marathon three-hour set, with its dazzling costume changes, phalanxes of dancers and a gem-encrusted flying horse, is more than the work of a single person. Behind Beyoncé, is an inner circle of assistants and confidantes.
Being a professional bestie to Beyoncé is, not surprisingly, a full-time gig. Whether passing her lip gloss on the red carpet or aiding Beyoncé in bringing a political and feminist perspective to her music, the expertise and advice of this coterie of helpers has proved crucial as she has taken her career to ever greater heights.
With a work ethic almost as hardcore as Beyoncé’s, the team have done their bit to mould the singer's message – which is that pop music can be more than simply entertainment and can address issues around race, gender and culture (though politics take a back seat on her glittering new tour). She has reshaped the genre in her own image and, without her collaborators, she couldn’t have done any of it. Here’s a who's-who of the real Bey-hive, past and present.
The new guard
Sam Greenberg: the personal assistant
On the red carpet, Beyoncé is rarely to be seen without her trusted personal PA, who has been joined to the star at the hip for more than a decade. She has a unique talent for blending into the background – and only really came to attention that time Beyoncé asked her to stop adjusting the plunging maroon gown she wore to a 2015 Tidal party. Generally, Greenberg keeps her head down and knows how to dress so as to appear invisible.
“I try to blend in the background as much as possible,” she once observed. “Being on the red carpet is the most glamorous, but for me, like for the Grammys this year, I wore a pair of black jeans and a black tank top.”
She doesn’t do it all on her own, however. Beyoncé’s other assistant is Kaleb Steele, currently on the road with Bey as head of “tour operations” and who, with impressive understatement, refers to himself as “special assistant to the chair of Parkwood Entertainment”; that would be Beyoncé, who established Parkwood – her management, production, entertainment company and record label – in 2010.
Andrew Makadsi: the creative director
Beyoncé’s creative director was in Stockholm for the first night of the Renaissance tour and is believed to be making his way to Cardiff for the UK dates. The son of a Beirut cab driver, he worked with Chanel and Louis Vuitton before coming to the attention of Kanye West and rapper Big Sean, who hired him to style their tours.
This led to a gig at Beyoncé’s Parkwood group, where he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Production Design for the 2019 Netflix concert special, Homecoming, filmed at Coachella in California the previous year. He’s continued his collaboration with Beyoncé on the Renaissance tour, saying: “Never underestimate any small project.When you work on something, make sure that you are going to be proud”.
Makadsi is proud of what he has accomplished with Beyoncé. Nonetheless, he sees himself primarily as a facilitator to the singer. She is the one calling the shots. “She’s an artist – she knows what she wants,” he told Vogue Middle East. “A lot of the creative comes from her. She is the mastermind. We’re a team. It’s like an orchestra and she’s the maestro.”
Sylvia Shann: the tour manager
Having had her big break working with ’N Sync and Puff Daddy in 2002, Shann joined the Beyoncé organisation ahead of her landmark 2018 Coachella concert – a performance instantly acclaimed as one of the greatest-ever headliners at a festival. It had everything: ranks of drummers, Beyoncé dressed as Queen Nefertiti and singing while looming over the crowd on a giant ladder, and then temporarily reuniting with the rest of Destiny’s Child.
Watching in the wings, ensuring all the moving parts functioned perfectly was Shann. She was in the job just a wet week. “I wanted to experience the big waters where the big fish are. I knew everything that I had learned to date had covered every area of production, but to be tasked with such a heavy position was terrifying. The first show I did was her Coachella performance,” she said.
“As road manager, I’m responsible for basically everybody you see on the stage. I was coordinating with everybody. I was doing logistics, even the boring stuff like the hiring and insurance — every single task that you could possibly think of that a show would entail is left up to road and tour management.”
Justina Omokhua: the company director
Previously a director at mega talent agency Endeavour, which merged with the William Morris Agency in 2009, Omokhua was hired as senior vice president at Parkwood Entertainment production company ahead of the release of the Renaissance album last year.
Before Endeavour she was head of global content at Apple, helping grow subscriber numbers at Apple Music. “If you ask around, you will find that her name is synonymous with being a “Fixer,” wrote Elle in 2012 – a quote Omokhua liked so much she put it on her Instagram.
Ty Ty Smith, the trusted confidante
Smith is a lifelong friend of Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z. They grew up together in a hard-knock Brooklyn neighbourhood and co-founded the Roc Nation management company, owned by the all-powerful Live Nation and with a roster that includes Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera. He is godfather to Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s three children, Blue Ivy, Sir and Rumi. Such is the friendship between Beyoncé and Jay-Z are believed to have asked Smith to look after their three children should anything happen to them.
The old guard
Lee Anne Callahan-Longo: the manager
Longo was Bey’s manager for 10 years but departed Parkwood in a 2016 boardroom shake-up. At the time, the Beyoncé camp insisted there was no bad blood. “Lee Anne Callahan-Longo has worked with Beyoncé for the last 10 years. Their friendship supersedes business, and while she is no longer an employee of Parkwood, she will remain an imperative part of Beyoncé’s life.”
But the speculation was that Beyoncé wanted to take things “to the next level” and so had replaced many key people within her organisation. “Beyoncé basically cleaned house, got rid of her whole team…and hired a new team,” reported the New York Post.
“She wants to surround herself with business people who could take her career to an even higher level. She has one album left to deliver before her deal is up with Columbia, plus she wants to make smarter decisions where it comes to touring, sponsorships and acting roles.”
Longo’s replacement came straight from the corporate world. Steve Pamon was the former JP Morgan Chase head of sport and entertainment. But he had previous experience with the Carter family, having arranged for Morgan Chase to sponsor Jay-Z and Beyoncé's 2014 On The Run tour.
Zerina Akers: the stylist
Akers's big break came when she worked with Beyoncé on her 2017 ‘visual” album, Lemonade (each track having its own video). For the song Formation, she put Beyoncé in an oversized top hat that obscured her eyes and which became instantly meme-worthy (the hat later fetched £20,000 at a charity auction).
She continued working with Beyoncé until the summer of 2022 before stepping away. “She became so many different women as we’ve watched her since being in the group, going independent and becoming a mother,” Akers said of her time with Beyoncé. There’s so many different versions of her, but how can I, as a stylist, find that new version? Find that new woman? What silhouettes can we explore that she hasn’t before?”
Janet Rollé: the executive
Beyoncé formed Parkwood in 2010 and Rollé was a prime move during the entertainment group’s early years. She left in 2021 to take over as chief executive of American Ballet Theatre. She had come to Parkwood after senior positions at VH1, HBO and CNN, where she was chief marking officer.
Norman Oosterbroek: the bodyguard
Nicknamed the “Dutch Giant”, Oosterbroek was Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s personal muscle for many years – in addition to protecting figures such as Lady Gaga and even Nelson Mandela. But he was fired by the Carters. Desperate, he turned to crime and died in 2013 shortly after an incident where he was reportedly tasered by police while attempting to break into a mansion in Miami, naked and under the influence.
Mathew and Tina Knowles: the parents
Knowles had managed his daughter, Beyoncé, through her early career, and was a driving force behind Destiny’s Child, the Bey-led girl group he helped assemble in their home town of Houston. He had cut the line-up to four from six and hustled for a music deal. That initial line-up included Beyoncé’s friend, Kelly Rowland, who had moved in with the Knowles because of family issues.
He also gave up his job as a medical equipment salesman to focus on securing a record deal for the group. This caused financial difficulties and put strain on his marriage to Beyoncé’s mother, Tina. All the blood, sweat and toil paid off in 1997, when their debut single, No, No, No made the US Top 100 and reached five in the UK singles charts.
However, the relationship eventually soured. Knowles accused Live Nation, the concert giant, of turning his daughter against him and creating a fake rumour that he had embezzled money from her tours. Whatever the reason, Beyoncé cut business ties with her father in 2011 and instead struck a deal with her husband’s Roc Nation group.
She remains close to her sister Solange and to her mother, Tina. Beyoncé took time out from conquering live music this week to wish Tina Happy Mothers Day. “I love you so much Mama and I’m so grateful for all you do for me,” she wrote on Instagram. The adoration flowed both ways “This audience is the best yet !!! Love them !!!” Tina wrote of the crowd at her daughter’s show in Brussels. This confirmed reports that Tina was on the road with her daughter.
Tina’s relationship with Beyoncé’s father is rocky. She divorced Mathew the same year Beyoncé cut business ties with him and later married actor Richard Lawson. Tina had also played a key part in the early story of Destiny’s Child, designing and making their onstage outfits because of financial necessity.
She and Lawson went on to appear in the video to All Night from Lemonade, in an image from their wedding day. Mother and daughter remain close, with Beyoncé saying Tina has helped give her a healthy perspective about wealth and fame. “My mom has always told me that beauty fades,” she said. “But inner beauty is forever.”
