When Beyoncé was a teenager, her mother took her to see Frankie Beverly and his band Maze playing a show at the Houston rodeo. Beverly led the band as frontman, lead singer, songwriter and producer for more than 60 years, and his music left a lasting impression on the teenager, who after the show snuck backstage to meet him. More than 20 years later on her multiplatinum 2019 live album Homecoming , she paid tribute to Beverly by covering his song Before I Let Go , which had been a hit for Maze in 1981, the year Beyoncé was born.
Although they had become friends, she gave Beverly no warning that she had recorded his song and the first he knew of it was when he heard the record on the radio. “I was caught off guard, but in a beautiful way,” he said. “I was blown away.
”.
