Beyoncé’s single mattered more than Rihanna’s whole album, Twitter data shows

We investigate if Beyoncé broke the Internet.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

While everyone thought they'd spend Saturday anticipating the Super Bowl, Queen Bey surprised the world with her new song and video, "Formation."

After Beyoncé and husband Jay Z's music-streaming service Tidal donated $1.5 million to the Black Lives Matter movement, the Knowles-Carter empire upped the ante with "Formation," whose politically-charged video was striking, evocative, and unapologetically black. 

After "Formation" made waves, we asked Twitter if Bey really did break the Internet. According to a spokesperson, in the 24 hours after her song dropped, Beyoncé was mentioned 1.3 million times on Twitter. In comparison, in the 24 hours after Rihanna released her long-awaited album ANTI last week, she received 705,000 Twitter mentions.

Beyoncé had her hottest minute at 1:30 p.m. PT Saturday, with 4,500 mentions in 60 seconds, but her reign didn't end there.

BEYONCÉ'S FULL PERFORMANCE RT TO SAVE A LIFE https://t.co/8hwFMY1Ey2

She doubled down on the political statements made in "Formation," with her all-black cast of dancers dressed like members of black nationalist organization the Black Panther Party, and the queen herself paid homage to the King of Pop by wearing a Michael Jackson-inspired jacket: 

Beyoncé's dancers paying homage to the Black Panthers at the Superbowl wins Black History Month. #SB50 pic.twitter.com/YQT2TDEuk3
.@beyonce paid tribute to Michael Jackson with her #SB50 halftime show outfit: https://t.co/0ZtRb7CYdm pic.twitter.com/VmeMVOJlO8

While Coldplay technically headlined the Super Bowl halftime show, Beyoncé dominated online conversation. Coldplay was mentioned 774,000 times during the show, while Beyoncé received 1.3 million mentions—as many as when she dropped "Formation."  

The Internet came through with some hilarious "Coldplay who?" jokes:

"Oh you're Shawn's friend! I didn't know you were in a band!" - Beyoncé to Chris Martin
$40 to anyone who can name a non Chris Martin member of Coldplay off the top of their head. #HalftimeShow #Coldplay #SB50
Wondering who the band that played with Beyoncé and Bruno Mars was? They're called Coldplay! #SB50 pic.twitter.com/KcsLBarEjw
"IM IN THE CREW! PART OF THE TEAM!"
"Hahaha, ok Chris Martin."#HalftimeShow #SB50 pic.twitter.com/dkcb6L4fxL

As we bask in the afterglow of a new song from Queen Bey and head into the Lunar New Year, it's hard not feel like 2016 is the year of Beyoncé. 

Latest in Pop Culture