Beyoncé Revealed Why She ‘Killed Off’ Sasha Fierce
In 2008, Beyoncé released the album I Am…Sasha Fierce. As she explained it, Sasha Fierce was her alter ego, the personality she took on before getting on stage. By 2011, though, Beyoncé no longer felt she needed the Sasha Fierce persona in order to perform. She shared why she decided to kill off that version of herself.
Beyoncé said she no longer needed her alter ego, Sasha Fierce
When Beyoncé released her album 4 in 2011, she decided to rid herself of Sasha Fierce. She wanted to tread new ground.
“I don’t want to hear about ‘Single Ladies’ or ‘Crazy In Love’. I don’t want to hear it. I believe that there are certain things that happen and they happen naturally,” she told Dazed, adding, “I killed off needing Sasha Fierce. I don’t need her anymore.”
Beyoncé said she didn’t need to slip into the persona anymore. It was just a natural part of her.
“I am Sasha Fierce. It’s interesting because now I’ve done it for so long it’s so easy for me to go into that performance mode,” she said. “Literally, I go from being a country girl in the dressing room who’s laughing and being silly into, ‘Okay, it’s time to work!’ I don’t have to mentally prepare myself for it. Honestly, I’m much more interested in showing people the sensitive, the passionate, and the compassionate person that I am. More so than Sasha Fierce.”
Beyoncé shared why she initially identified with Sasha Fierce
Beyoncé said she initially saw Sasha Fierce as a costume. She could step into her skin to be concert-ready.
“It’s kind of like doing a movie. When you put on the wig and put on the clothes, you walk different,” she told Oprah Winfrey. “It’s no different from anyone else. I feel like we all kind of have that thing that takes over.”
This helped her eliminate any pre-show jitters.
“Usually when I hear the chords, when I put on my stilettos. Like the moment right before when you’re nervous,” she said. “Then Sasha Fierce appears, and my posture and the way I speak and everything is different.”
Beyoncé said she wasn’t really anything like Sasha Fierce in person. She saw herself as much more reserved.
Her mother shared what this version of her daughter was like
Beyoncé got the Sasha Fierce nickname from her cousin. According to her mother, Tina Knowles, she would start acting like a different person ahead of a show.
“Her cousin Angie gave her that name,” Knowles told Elle. “We’d tease Beyoncé about having a split personality. Me and Angie and Ty, her stylist, would work with her doing a quick change when she’d come off the stage between sets. Beyoncé would start screaming, ‘What’s wrong with you? Where’s my shoe?’ ‘Uh oh,’ we’d say, ‘Sasha is here.’”
She said she didn’t recognize her daughter in the Sasha Fierce persona.
“I’m like, This is some crazy person who’s doing this quick change,” she said. “She’s another person up there. We don’t take it personally. Sasha is her bragging side … I don’t know whether to say it, but her hip-hop side.”
