# Do you know who Beyoncé is married to? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671 "2013-05-18T12:11:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/121 "2013-05-19T22:35:32Z")
Didn’t know Beyonce was married. Now that I do, should I be impressed? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/122 "2013-05-19T22:39:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > They’re hardly library dwellers, and they’re not living under a rock. They’re are well informed about US and international news and many are engaged politically. They travel widely and have visited dozens of countries. Overall, they are probably far better informed about the world in general than the average person who _has_ heard of Beyonce. _I’m_ a library dweller (university librarian) and I think someone who’s well informed about US and international news is probably aware that there’s some sort of singer named Beyonce who within the past few months performed at both Obama’s second inauguration and the Super Bowl and also made some sort of questionable trip to Cuba. I knew all that off the top of my head, and I personally don’t give a damn about Beyonce or her music. (Or football, for that matter.) These are things that were reported in major mainstream news sources, not just tabloids or music magazines. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/123 "2013-05-19T22:43:23Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > This is one of the biggest pop superstars of the past decade and a half, whose nearly every move is the stuff of gossip, who’s graced the cover of countless magazines, headlines award shows, a constant of any news and entertainment medium, etc. There is no bigger celebrity in the world today. Welcome to Earth, GovernmentMan. Will Smith would like a word with you. And I think you’re being a bit harsh by the way. Music is super segmented now and someone who doesn’t care to listen to poppy R&B will not hear much about Beyonce if their genre of choice is, say, country. Or rock. Or metal. Or anything that’s not poppy R&B. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/124 "2013-05-19T22:47:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You may need to find something interesting or important to _remember_ it. I don’t doubt that many of my colleagues have _seen or heard_ the name Beyonce, it just hasn’t registered for them as something to be retained in their memory. A lot of people would have no idea who Rosa Gumataotao Rios is, although they see her name every day. > > They’re hardly library dwellers, and they’re not living under a rock. They’re are well informed about US and international news and many are engaged politically. They travel widely and have visited dozens of countries. Overall, they are probably far better informed about the world in general than the average person who _has_ heard of Beyonce. > > Since my contemporaries grew up in the 60s, they know about the Beatles and Elvis. They may be more aware of Michael Jackson due to his scandals than his music. A lot of them probably are unaware of Prince or Janet Jackson. I see. I only called them library dwellers because I thought you were painting them as very scholarly, studious types who aren’t at all aware of the pop culture going down all around them. I see now, you weren’t painting them that way at all, hence your saying they don’t live under a rock. So, my mistake there. Now I am off to google Rosa Gumataotao Rios. Good day. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/125 "2013-05-19T22:56:59Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Now I am off to google Rosa Gumataotao Rios. Good day. Hint: It’s the current U.S. Treasurer, so we “see” her name multiple times per day as it’s on every piece of paper currency. On the other hand, she doesn’t do a lot of public appearances or nationwide publicity spots, and as far as I’m aware, hasn’t ever done the Superbowl halftime show, a Presidential inauguration or a Pepsi commercial that’s shown fourteen times a day. ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/126 "2013-05-19T23:59:25Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > When people talk about the dominant genres of music, they forget about the long tail. Rap and pop acts (and a little bit of country) dominate the Top 100, but rock acts dominate the total. There are so many of them that it’s very rare for one to break away from the pack (Mumford and Sons, U2, Coldplay, and Green Day) have been notable exceptions in recent years), but their sum total is a bigger part of “today’s music” than rap could ever hope to be. That’s why I specifically limited my comments to pop music (the music in the Hot 100, the music you hear when you turn on the Top 40 radio station, etc). But I don’t think I fully understand what you’re saying. Are you just pointing out that there are probably more undiscovered rock bands out there than there are undiscovered rappers? Because just as there are a shit-ton of great bands out there playing the bar circuit, I assure you there are a shit-ton of fantastic rappers doing the same, as well as a shit-ton of hip-hop influenced DJs and electronic acts. The non-Top 40 tails of hip-hop and it’s offshoots are just as diverse musically as rock, if not more so, and pack just as many clubs and bars and make it onto just as many iPods as their not-quite-famous rock counterparts. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/127 "2013-05-20T02:11:22Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > _I’m_ a library dweller (university librarian) and I think someone who’s well informed about US and international news is probably aware that there’s some sort of singer named Beyonce who within the past few months performed at both Obama’s second inauguration and the Super Bowl and also made some sort of questionable trip to Cuba. I knew all that off the top of my head, and I personally don’t give a damn about Beyonce or her music. (Or football, for that matter.) These are things that were reported in major mainstream news sources, not just tabloids or music magazines. > [@Colibri](#): > > They’re hardly library dwellers, and they’re not living under a rock. They’re are well informed about US and international news and many are engaged politically. They travel widely and have visited dozens of countries. Overall, they are probably far better informed about the world in general than the average person who _has_ heard of Beyonce. > > Since my contemporaries grew up in the 60s, they know about the Beatles and Elvis. They may be more aware of Michael Jackson due to his scandals than his music. A lot of them probably are unaware of Prince or Janet Jackson. Quite frankly, I don’t believe you. Or maybe you don’t know your colleagues as well as you think > [@SCAdian](#): > > Didn’t know Beyonce was married. > > Now that I do, should I be impressed? No. Has anyone suggested you should be? People seem to take such a perverse pride in their ignorance sometimes. There really isn’t some sort of moral superiority because you don’t know pop culture. Not that I think anyone should take an interest, but you’d have to almost actively avoid news on Beyoncé or Prince to be that ignorant of pop culture. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/128 "2013-05-20T02:28:48Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > People seem to take such a perverse pride in their ignorance sometimes. There really isn’t some sort of moral superiority because you don’t know pop culture. Not that I think anyone should take an interest, but you’d have to almost actively avoid news on Beyoncé or Prince to be that ignorant of pop culture. This. This, this, this, this, this. Pop culture IS culture. It’s contemporary culture. It’s the sea that you swim through if you live in the USA. It’s not mandatory and it’s not some shocking sin if you mostly tune it out, but avoiding it isn’t really some kind of virtue. You’re not living a purified life if you don’t own a TV or radio or don’t read magazines or don’t listen to people talk about what happened last night on the Office. There aren’t any brownie points to be distributed. Beethoven and Mozart and Brahms weren’t some sort of elevated cultural geniuses in their time. Their music WAS the pop culture of their day. They were the Elvises and Madonnas and Elton Johns of their time. Beethoven had some pieces that could be classified as “the Frank Zappa of his day”, really…the Grosse Fugue was as far ahead of the culture as Zappa’s works were when they came out. Just because we tend to just consider OLD culture as “Culture” doesn’t mean that today’s culture (POP culture) isn’t a part of culture, period. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/129 "2013-05-20T03:08:26Z")
> [@wheresmymind](#): > > But I don’t think I fully understand what you’re saying. Are you just pointing out that there are probably more undiscovered rock bands out there than there are undiscovered rappers? Because just as there are a shit-ton of great bands out there playing the bar circuit, I assure you there are a shit-ton of fantastic rappers doing the same, as well as a shit-ton of hip-hop influenced DJs and electronic acts. The non-Top 40 tails of hip-hop and it’s offshoots are just as diverse musically as rock, if not more so, and pack just as many clubs and bars and make it onto just as many iPods as their not-quite-famous rock counterparts. I don’t mean undiscovered bands. I mean professional bands with professionally released albums. Let’s call them “little known” instead. There are a lot of little known rappers, but there is a metric shit ton of little known rock acts out there. And their number on iTunes, Amazon, and, yes, your local record store, dwarfs that of rap. That’s what I’m saying. Rap is the music of the “mainstream” in a way, but only because rock is 100x more fractured. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/130 "2013-05-20T03:20:16Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > Quite frankly, I don’t believe you. Or maybe you don’t know your colleagues as well as you think Sorry, I’m quite sure I know my colleagues much better than you do. In particular, based on other celebrities I have mentioned to them, I would be quite surprised if two of my best friends knew who Beyonce was. Maybe they know her name. I would be astonished if they knew who Jay-Z was. These people are simply not on their radar. > [@](#): > > Not that I think anyone should take an interest, but you’d have to almost actively avoid news on Beyoncé or Prince to be that ignorant of pop culture. Just because you are aware of it doesn’t mean that others are. Not being able to imagine that some people don’t know who Beyonce is a kind of tunnel vision as well. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/131 "2013-05-20T03:40:25Z")
I’m glad you kind of pedaled back to Beyonce, because it was the claim that they wouldn’t know Prince that I found a bit incredible. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/132 "2013-05-20T04:00:20Z")
Jay Z, the asshole who inflicted “Hard Knock Life” on us when I was still in college. Do you think this is common knowledge (I.E. most people would/should know this)? Depends on how old the person is, and what their interest in celebrities is. I’d expect many people to know. Do you think it’s weird or surprising to find someone who didn’t know this? If the person was under 40, I’d find it a triffle odd, but no more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/133 "2013-05-20T04:27:07Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > People seem to take such a perverse pride in their ignorance sometimes. There really isn’t some sort of moral superiority because you don’t know pop culture. Not that I think anyone should take an interest, but you’d have to almost actively avoid news on Beyoncé or Prince to be that ignorant of pop culture. Yes, but I think there’s a difference between ignorance of pop culture (e.g. knowing who Beyonce _is_, or what she’s famous for\*), and ignorance of celebrity gossip & personal lives (e.g. knowing who she’s married to). \*(She was the girl in the third Austin Powers movie) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/134 "2013-05-20T04:48:07Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I’m glad you kind of pedaled back to Beyonce, because it was the claim that they wouldn’t know Prince that I found a bit incredible. Who backpedaled? I seriously doubt they really know who Prince is. Actually, I think they’re more likely to have heard of Beyonce than Prince. Again, incredulity that some people - even quite intelligent people - are that unaware of popular culture is in itself a kind of unawareness. I wouldn’t say my friends are not deliberately aware of pop culture, or take any pride in not knowing. _They just don’t care,_ so it’s virtually invisible to them. If you are not interested in sports, you don’t pay attention to the sports news. I suspect lots of people who know that Beyonce performed at the Superbowl couldn’t name the teams that played that year. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/135 "2013-05-20T05:31:34Z")
Beyonce’s husband is Jay-Z, and I would be shocked to meet someone with even a low level of pop culture consumption to know. Basically anyone who goes to a standard America grocery store with magazines at checkout. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/136 "2013-05-20T05:45:46Z")
H.O.V.A. Although, I should admit, when posed with this question a few years ago, I also failed. I didn’t think Jay-Z would get married. Why would he? He’s rich and famous. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/137 "2013-05-20T05:51:24Z")
Ah, dang, words were missing in my post. I was trying to say I’d be shocked to meet someone who didn’t know about them, unless that person never shopped at a grocery store with magazines at checkout. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/138 "2013-05-20T06:11:56Z")
> [@panaccione](#): > > H.O.V.A. > > Although, I should admit, when posed with this question a few years ago, I also failed. I didn’t think Jay-Z would get married. Why would he? He’s rich and famous. He wanted to have 100 problems. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/139 "2013-05-20T10:06:53Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > (Actually, I have more of an excuse. I think I’m older than **Idle** and **Miller** put together)😉 You also have the added advantage of not living in this country, if I remember correctly. I’m sure we export a lot of our pop culture to Panama, but it’s still not going to be nearly as ubiquitous as it is here. What I’m surprised about is that apparently both of those two are fairly young folk. Idle, sure–but Miller, too? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671/140 "2013-05-20T10:45:55Z")
I know who she’s married to, but I wouldn’t be able to pick him out in a crowd. I haven’t watched the Grammys in years, every since I realized that the only people I knew were the ones getting Lifetime Achievement Awards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-beyonce-is-married-to/658671.md?page=8)