Introduction
When “Inspiration” Turns Into a Debate: Lainey Wilson’s Holiday Halftime Moment Sparks Beyoncé Comparisons
Country music has always borrowed from itself—melodies, stage traditions, visual cues, even the way an entrance can feel like a story before a single note is sung. But every so often, a performance arrives that makes people argue about the line between influence and imitation. That’s the conversation swirling around Did Lainey Wilson copy Beyoncé? Some Beyoncé fans think so, as they are comparing Lainey’s performance at Snoop’s Halftime Holiday Party last week to Beyoncé’s Christmas halftime show from last year.
See how the halftime show performances compare, here.
Here’s what’s clear: Lainey Wilson appeared as a featured guest during “Snoop’s Holiday Halftime Party”—the Christmas Day halftime show tied to the Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings game, streamed on Netflix. And Beyoncé’s 2024 Christmas NFL halftime show is still fresh in people’s minds, praised for its scale, Western styling, and big-event ambition.
The “copying” argument isn’t really about a chord change or a lyric—because this isn’t a songwriting dispute. It’s about staging language: the kind of visual shorthand audiences recognize instantly. When fans feel they’ve seen a concept before—especially from a superstar whose performances become cultural reference points—comparisons spread fast. Some Beyoncé fans on social media, and at least one major tabloid write-up, framed Wilson’s holiday appearance as too close in spirit to Beyoncé’s earlier Christmas show.
But there’s another way to hear this moment, especially if you’ve followed live music for decades: big stages tend to rhyme. Holiday television specials lean into classic imagery—white costumes, dramatic entrances, sweeping camera moves—because those choices read well on screen and instantly say “event.” And in country music, the overlap gets even more natural. Western fashion, bold silhouettes, and theatrical reveals aren’t new inventions; they’re part of a long tradition that stretches from rodeo posters to arena tours.
So the more interesting question may not be “Who copied whom?” but “What does the audience expect artists to do now—when every show is instantly searchable, screen-grabbed, and compared?” If you’re watching closely, this debate becomes a window into modern fandom itself: how quickly we police originality, how deeply we protect our favorites, and how a single performance can turn into a referendum on authenticity.
In the end, the music fan’s best instinct is the oldest one: watch with open eyes, listen with open ears, and decide for yourself what feels like tribute, what feels like trend, and what feels truly new.